| Author | Message | ||
     86129squids |
... just got out of the hot tub. One of the things I love about my routine is that I'm a night owl. SO peaceful this time of evening. Got some landscaping done, going to "finish" tomorrow (there's no finishing.) Had some awesome leftovers- Dominican picadillo, black beans, rice.... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz snore, Z | ||
| Crusty |
Slowly I Turned… Step by step, inch by inch… I’m healing. This morning, I carried a basket of clothes down to the basement and put them in the washer. While I was down there, I set up the other set of shelves that one of my neighbors had put out in the trash and David and I rescued and put my balancing stand and other tire changing supplies on it. Then I took the empty cardboard boxes out to the garage and set them by the trash can. I looked the Roadster over once again and apologized to it that I haven’t been able to wash it and probably won’t be able to for a while yet. Then, I got a wild hair and threw my leg over the saddle and sat on it. I can sit on the bike! I even picked it up off the stand and I have to say that it really felt good. I think I can ride it now, but I’m going to wait a little longer and let my legs and knees get a little better. Maybe I’ll feel better tomorrow. I’d like that. The other reason I’m a little reluctant to ride it is that I need to rebuild the rear brake master cylinder. While I mostly use the front brake, it would be good to have all the brakes working. It shouldn’t take that long to rebuild it and I bought the rebuild kit, but I really don’t want to kneel to take the master cylinder off. My knees are still pretty sore. I don’t want to set my recovery back and I really don’t want to increase my level of “Uncomfortable” to "Agony". One thing I noticed is that there’s a chip in the paint on the front fender. Right in the middle. I have no idea how it got there. Maybe the windshield hit it when it popped off. The fender isn’t dented or bent, but then again, there are quite a few head scratching things that happened in the accident. When I look closely, I can see scrapes on the muffler, brake pedal, ball on the end of the front brake lever and the edge of the mirror and mirror stalk. But they aren’t deep scratches and I have to look closely to find them. The steering stop didn’t break off the triple clamp and the turn signals are fine. When I went down on the wet tar snake in 2017, I broke the steering stop and turn signal stalk and I was going much slower. I also didn’t get nearly as badly beat up. When I think about it, though, I don’t think I had the bags on at that time. That’s probably why the turn signal didn’t get broken this time. The saddle bag has a raspberry that’s about the same size as the one on my knee. I still don’t know how that happened (the knee rash). It’s on my left knee and I went down on my right side. The padded riding pants aren’t even scuffed. I’ve looked them over a few times. The scab on my knee is going to be there for some time, though. I know it’s healing; it itches like a sonovabitch sometimes. Anyhow, I’m strongly tempted to take the Roadster out; even if it’s only to the quarter car wash. I’d wash it in the driveway, but then I’d want to get a sponge and kneel down and get it clean. The car wash will blast the worst of the crap off. So will a hose with a nozzle; I really just want to go for a ride and I’m looking for an excuse. Going for a ride probably isn’t the brightest idea, but I’ve been known to do some pretty dumb things on occasion. Still; if I stick to back streets with little traffic… Well; we’ll see. | ||
| Glitch |
Glad to hear you're feeling better. Heal well, heal soon, don't push it though.. | ||
| Crusty |
Three Week Update Yesterday, I pulled the rear brake master cylinder and put a rebuild kit in it. Now, the rear brake is working like it should. I'm not going to ride until the swelling in my legs and feet goes down to the point where I can put my jump boots on. I'm hoping tomorrow, but we'll see. I was out with David today running errands. My legs and knees still hurt after only a small amount of walking. We cut the shopping short after we hit a couple of stores; I was in too much pain to continue. Still, there’s improvement. Each day, I can see measurable progress. It took me almost four hours to do the master cylinder. Mostly because it took me so long to get up from laying on the floor each time I needed a different tool. Still, I took my time and thoroughly cleaned everything and made sure everything was right. The master cylinder looks new now and the brake works better than it has in a while. If I can spend four hours working on the Roadster, then it shouldn’t be much longer before I’ll be riding it. | ||
| Adrenaline_junkie |
Great news John! Keep that positive attitude and you'll be back in the saddle in no time. | ||
| Pwnzor |
Little by little. Keep us posted. | ||
| Tootal |
Inch by inch, anything's a cinch! | ||
| Ebutch |
John:Wishing You The Best!!!!!  | ||
| Crusty |
Observations From The Peanut Gallery This morning, I woke up with a positive attitude. I knew that I was going to be able to ride today. The Universe was setting everything up just so that would happen. I had slept late; yesterday had exhausted me, but when I woke up at 8:00, I felt fully awake. My legs are still pretty stiff, but it’s getting a little easier each day to get into and out of the bath tub to take a shower. My legs and feet are still swollen, but not as bad as they were. I was feeling pretty good. The best I’ve felt in weeks. I had my coffee and called the radiology folks who sent me a bill for $1720.00. I got that sorted out, then I worked on putting my jump boots on. Once I’d succeeded at that, I went down to the garage and removed the highway peg bar from the Roadster. Then I went out to run a couple of errands. First, I went to a meeting. I haven’t been to one in a while and I felt that I could use one to get my head straightened out. After that, I rode over to the quarter car wash. I went there out of pure laziness. I didn’t want to drag out the hose and wash the bike in the driveway. I had discovered that my knees weren’t up to me kneeling on them when I was pulling the highway bar, so I didn’t want to try to wash the bike with soap and a sponge but just hosing the bike down wouldn’t cut it either. I figured the high pressure soap and rinse would do a better job. After I got the worst of the road mung off the bike, I rode over to the Cinema. I had looked online and seen that if I went to the 8:45 AM showing of Avengers: Endgame on Friday the 26th, I could get a seat in the handicap row, which is where I prefer to sit. So I went to the ticket counter and got a seat in my favorite location. Not only that, but because it’s an Early Bird showing, it was only six bucks. Incidentally, all the other showings for the weekend were sold out. Then, I went to the supermarket. I wanted to pick up some frozen lunches while they were on sale. There were no electric handicap carts, so I just leaned heavily on a regular cart and got the lunches plus a few more items. It’s almost impossible for me to go shopping and get just what’s on my list. There’s almost always something that catches my eye. Like onions, so I can chop them up and use them on top of the Cincinnati style chili. But that means that I should get some Extra Sharp Cheddar to shred and put on top of the pasta, chili and onions. Good thing the cheese is on sale this week. Anyhow, I made it home from my errands both exhausted and jubilant. I have to check out why the right front turn signal isn’t working, but that little bit of running around had whipped my butt. It took all my remaining energy to put the groceries away, so I took a 15 minute power nap. Now, I’ve got some Beef Stew heating up on the stove for dinner. It’s 74* F outside, so I’ve got windows in every room open to let fresh air into the house. I feel very successful. One thing I noticed while riding; the sorest part of my right calf is exactly where it rests against the air cleaner. Maybe the bike fell on me during the accident? That would help to explain why it sustained so little damage and why I feel like I was assaulted by an oversized meat tenderizer. In any event, I’m healing and feeling a little stronger every day. I’ll be ready for Springfield! | ||
| Buellish |
Glad to hear you had a successful ride John! | ||
| Ourdee |
 | ||
| Etennuly |
Congrats on your return. That didn't take nearly as long as it could have. We should have started a pool for your return date! I rode today too! Front flat tire and all! Thought it felt heavy in even the slightest of turns. Not completely flat, but around 15 lbs of air. | ||
| Crusty |
A Possible Destination Ride? My brother David is a Roller Coaster enthusiast. He loves to travel to distant places on his days off just to ride roller coasters. He’s pretty heavily involved in the Coaster Enthusiasts club and he’s been making plans to drive out to their Convention this summer, which is going to be in southern California. Since he’s going to be traveling all the way to the west coast, he’s been making plans to possibly see some interesting things along the way. Now, I’m at the point in my recuperation from my accident where I’m nowhere near completely healed, but I figure I should do a little more activity each day to help speed my body along. Today, I decided that I would ride over to David’s shop for a visit. While I was there, he showed me a potential stopping point along the way; Uranus, Missouri. It’s a tourist trap, plain and simple; but let your mind dive into the lowest gutter it’s capable of falling into. It’ll probably not go quite as deep as the jokes that I saw on the monitor of the computer, when David googled it. There’s a Fudge Factory and it’s staffed by members of the Fudge Packers Union, Local # 2. We were encouraged to try some of the Mayor’s favorite fudge - #2; it’s chocolate with crushed walnuts mixed in and it has candy corn sprinkled on it. There are also places like the Moonicorn and the Axehole. The place is weird enough that I’m almost tempted to ride there just to check it out. Of course, there are T-shirts, but I really don’t think I’d wear any of them. Anyhow, Davis and I laughed quite a bit and I told him that it deserved a Snippet all of its own. I’m not really conveying just how funny we found it, but here’s a link so you can go check out their site yourself: https://www.uranusmissouri.com/ After laughing our asses off, my leg was starting to hurt again, so I got back on the Roadster and came home. Maybe I’ll have the time and money to check it out after the September Springfield Mile? We’ll see. | ||
| Pwnzor |
Awesome. I feel drawn to it... | ||
| Zac4mac |
You're a true biker, John, you put yourself in a place to protect your scooter. You'll heal, the bike repairs take away more important funds... used to be partying, now it's meds. Problem is, the older we get, the harder and slower the healing happens. Life is wasted on the youth. Z | ||
| Griffmeister |
Funny, that ad popped up on Facebook a couple of days ago. Their motto was “the best fudge comes from Uranus”. John, your recovery is nothing short of amazing. You talk of struggling to get off the floor after rebuilding the brakes? Hell, I can’t get off the floor and I haven’t even dropped my bike (lately). | ||
| Crusty |
It’s Raining Again Last night, I watched the 11:00 news to see the Weather Report. Supposedly, it was going to rain during the wee hours of this morning, then it was going to quit for a few hours before turning into a steady rain this afternoon that will last until tomorrow night. Well; they got it wrong. It’s been raining lightly off and on all morning. I had been hoping to go out and pick up the items for Sunday’s Dinner. I wasn’t feeling imaginative, so I was going to just have my standard Holiday Meal - 14 oz. Rib Eye with baked potato, beef gravy, asparagus and biscuits and some strawberry ice cream for dessert. It’s not an expensive or overly fancy meal, but I enjoy it. However; my accident spooked me. I really don’t want to ride on wet pavement. My left knee still has road rash and my right leg still hurts. I don’t want to risk increasing the pain. I can fix chicken for dinner. I have some good sized boneless chicken breasts in the freezer, and I can throw one on the charcoal grill and slather it with good BBQ sauce. That, along with roasted seasoned spuds and some Green Giant vegetables will make a tasty meal worthy of a holiday. I won’t suffer. I’m just looking at my reluctance to ride. I’ve got hundreds of thousands of miles of riding in the rain under my butt. One accident in the rain shouldn’t affect me so much. But it does. In analyzing this, I’m reminded about the time I got stung on the tongue by a bee. It happened in the summer of 1983. There was no Tunnel work going on, to speak of and the Business Agent of the Union sent me out to work as a Laborer for the Cambridge Local. I was working at the Harvard Business School and we were on a tight schedule. The work had to be completed by the start of the school year, so we were working seven days a week. One Sunday in August, I was sitting outside at lunch time eating a roast beef sandwich. A bee landed on my sandwich and I didn’t see it. When I took my next bite, it stung me on the tongue. It hurt a lot. I even had to pull the stinger out of my tongue. Now, at the time, roast beef was my favorite sandwich, but after I got stung, I lost my taste for it. Intellectually, I knew that it wasn’t the roast beef’s fault, but my subconscious wasn’t listening to my intellectual mind. It took me over a year before I could enjoy roast beef again. I think I’m going through something similar in regards to riding in the rain. I hope I get over it soon, but in the meantime, I think I’ll just avoid riding on wet surfaces. Crashing truly sucks and I really don’t want to do it again. Now that I think about it a little more, BBQ chicken is sounding pretty tasty. | ||
| Tootal |
I obviously wasn't there to see the crash but I have experienced wet front brake rotor syndrome where you hit the brake but nothing happens so you squeeze a little harder right about the time the rotor dries off! BAMM! I didn't go down but rear ended a lady with the Harley. It was foggy and the rotor was wet. The tire just locked up but didn't wash out. It bent my fender but didn't hurt her bumper. I was able to pull the fender back by hand and go on into work. Now a days when I'm coming up on traffic in the wet I ride that front brake a little to keep it warmed up and dry! | ||
| 86129squids |
Good point, Greg... mental note taken. Uranus Missouri? I'd have to head there just to soak in all the weird. I'd probably wear a T-Shirt. Years ago a friend and I drove a 1970 VW Transporter up through the Ozarks to see her mother, who lived in a true Hippie community, East Wind Community. That was a fun 3 days... always wanted to do that trip again on 2 wheels. Then drove back to Nashville for the 2nd year tour of Lollapalooza, with Primus as the main/ending band.  Been to Toadsuck, AR. Got the T-shirt.  | ||
| Crusty |
Small Discoveries My legs hurt this morning. That’s a good thing; I earned that pain. Yesterday, David played chauffeur and drove me around to pick up the heavy/bulky items on my shopping list. On my way out to the car when he arrived at the house, I decided that I didn’t want to bring the cane. I could just lean on the shopping cart like I did on Monday. The difference, however was that I was doing a lot more walking yesterday than I did on Monday. And, on Monday, I was only out for a couple of hours and that whipped me enough that once I got back home, I became a vegetable for the rest of the day. Yesterday, we hit two different supermarkets, wandered around the Department store section of one for a while, went out to Five Guys for lunch and went to the Barber Shop. I really needed a haircut badly. I hadn’t had one in a month and a half and I looked like I should be living on the streets of San Francisco. I haven’t been happy with the barber I’d been using for a long time (ever since the time I went in for a trim and walked out with a crew cut) and when David said he was going to get his hair cut, I decided that I would go along and check out his barber. It turned out that David’s barber is out of work, having broken his arm, so we got our haircuts from his partner/ assistant/ boss/ employee? A talkative, cute, short blonde woman who did a good job. I think I know where I’ll be getting my haircuts in the future. After the barbershop, we hit Home Depot. I wanted to get a bag of dirt. There’s been a hole in my front lawn since before I bought the house, and I decided that when I mowed the lawn on Tuesday, it was way past time to fill it in. I suspect that when the house was empty, somebody saw a beautiful plant in the lawn and decided to dig it up. I’ve been wanting to fill the hole in for almost two years now, and on Tuesday, I almost stepped in it; which would have really hurt. Once we got back to the house and filled the hole in, I was showing David some of the things I’ve either accomplished or plan to accomplish and there were a couple of Tulip plants that were flowering in the back yard. I told him that the pink flowers had been open, but they closed up when it rained the other day, then re-opened. I just looked and they’re closed up again (it’s raining this morning). I didn’t know that tulips did that. I was pretty proud that I’ve almost eliminated the bushes/ plants from beside the walk. They would be completely gone by now if I hadn’t of had the accident. There’s a lot more jungle that needs to be eradicated, but I’m getting there, little by little. I’m back into my Homeowner Phase right now. I want to get a weed whacker to trim the grass; I also want to get a new metal mailbox stand and replace the termite eaten wooden post that’s there. And, here’s the capper; I’m thinking that it would be worthwhile to have Stanley Steamer come by and do my carpets. They’ll never look good; there are too many ground in stains, but I won’t have the money to replace the carpeting for a few years. Even if they still look like crap, I’ll know they’re clean. I rented a rug shampooer when I bought the house, and went over the carpets twice. It cleaned a lot of the crap out, but left a lot behind. When I tallied up the cost of rental, plus the shampoo plus the work I put in, calling Stanley and taking them up on their deal looks like a good idea. If I can figure out a way to come up with the money (and I’m really thinking about it), I think I’ll do it. And while typing this out, I think I just came up with a way. Anyhow, I haven’t been on the Roadster since Monday. I’m going to the 8:45 AM showing of Avengers: Endgame tomorrow. I just looked at the weather forecast and there’s a 64% chance of rain at 8:00 AM. I guess I’m going to have to deal with my current distaste of riding in the rain. Life is happening, and I’m part of it! | ||
| Ourdee |
I'd check for hardwood floors under the carpet. cute, short blonde woman  | ||
| 86129squids |
Yay HomieCrust! I've been spending a good bit of time working out in the yard- dug up some cherry tree seedlings to give away to friends and neighbors, got close to a dozen hummie feeders out, Marcia has bought several hanging planters, got the back yard mowed yesterday, gonna finish the rest today. Got a walk-around done yesterday, my red-hot poker plants are coming up nicely, counted +- 75 blooms in my row of clusters. Last year we got a yield of over 30# of cherries, I expect to see possibly double or more that this year. Working on organizing the shed, getting ready to fix my electrical problem, priced out a new rear tire for the BMW. Oh, and late last nite, just before bed, I went out on my back deck, said hello to a baby possum. It backed off the deck rail and fell off, ran under the deck where I couldn't get it... oh well. Gots me a critter. My two boys might have something to do later... | ||
| Crusty |
Comic Books and Motorcycles Yesterday, I rode in the rain because I wanted to see a comic book movie. When I was a kid, I loved comic books. I had a huge collection of all the Marvel comics. I had all the origin stories; Fantastic Four, Spiderman (Amazing Fantasy #15), Thor, Iron Man, Ant Man (and a few issues later, Giant Man), Dr. Strange, the X-Men, The Avengers, Daredevil and more. My closest friend, Jerome and I would go down to either the J&S Smoke Shop or Frank’s Smoke Shop on either Wednesday or Thursday and buy the latest issues, often before they had a chance to get put up on the shelves. Jerome and I knew the names of all the Pencilers and Inkers and had out favorites and we treated our collections with extreme reverence. We even went to different Barbershops to talk the barbers into trading old issues that we were missing for more current ones. But time and adolescence took their hold. I eventually lost interest and, as time went by, my collection wound up with my brother David. (He never lost his love for them and now runs a moderately successful Comic Book Shop) When Super hero movies started becoming popular, I avoided them. I thought they were lame. However, after my heart surgery, I was inactive for a few months and stumbled across one on cable TV. I thought it was stupid, but it awakened the feelings I used to have for comic books back when I was a kid. At first, just enough to make me receptive to the possibility that I might enjoy watching one, to seeing movies and actually enjoying them, to actually looking forward to seeing them. Like the old comics, there were some I really enjoyed and some that I thought were duds. Last Year’s Avengers: Infinity War was a cliffhanger; a two part movie; kind of like Hairy Pothead and the Deadly Gallows (or whatever it was called). I had a lot of anticipation about seeing {I Endgame}. Enough that I bought a ticket a week and a half before. It was pretty obvious that I wasn’t the only one who was anticipating the movie; there were only a couple of seats available for the 8:45 AM show and the rest of the weekend was sold out. The local Cinemaplex has 14 theaters and they’re running 26 showings per day; and they’re all sold out. A lot of people are going to make a lot of money from this movie. Oh; my anticipation level was high enough that this was the only movie I’ve ever gone to on its opening weekend in my life. I think. Anyhow; when I bought the ticket, I checked the weather forecast. The weather looked like it was going to be good. I periodically checked it as the day got closer, but then the forecast began to change (what a surprise!). At first, it was rain on Thursday, but clear on Friday. Then, the rain was going to quit Thursday night. Then during the wee hours of Friday. By the time yesterday morning rolled around, it was showers during the morning, tapering off during the afternoon. I was concerned. I’ve had a very real reluctance to ride in the rain since my accident. I put off my Easter dinner until Monday because I didn’t want to ride in the rain to get the ingredients. I was very strongly tempted to just eat the cost of the ticket and stay home (it cost a whole six bucks!). I’m still in a good deal of pain. I still can’t move my feet like I should be able to and my knees hurt. But a few things were working against that. One was my desire to see the movie. I’ve been looking forward to seeing it since last year. Also, if I didn’t go, I’d really feel like I’d failed at beating my fear of riding in the rain. Back when I worked as a mechanic in a helicopter logging operation, the loggers had a saying, “God hates a coward”. That saying really hits me at times. It has pushed me to do things that scared the living piss out of me (and would have stopped a sane person), but gave me tremendous satisfaction when I was successful (like when I rode home in a blizzard, or the time I rode home from work in a hurricane). A third factor was the old, “When a horse bucks you off, you have to get right back on or you’ll be afraid forever”. There are a lot of things I’m afraid of. I don’t want to let something I love and that’s given me so much outright joy become something I’m afraid of. So; yesterday morning, just after 8:00 AM, I backed the Roadster out of the garage and rode over wet streets in a light rain to the Cinemark 14 complex. I was a bit nervous and I was overly cautious, but I did it. I got there successfully. I’ll probably be overly cautious in the rain for a long time to come, but that’s not a bad thing. It beats the hell out of being too scared to do it. And besides, I feel so good when I’m in the saddle of the Roadster. It’s where I belong. | ||
| Robertl |
So great to hear you are healing and riding again. Compression socks or full leg sleeve help a lot with the swelling. Sometimes I buy a size up so it is a bit more comfortable but still provides some compression. Get mine on Amazon. I finally go to bend my knee and start physical therapy (again). I think they had a lottery poll on why I was coming back to PT. Still a few months before I can walk or ride so the mower and 4 wheeler feed the riding addiction for now. | ||
| Crusty |
Waiting For Stanley Waiting For Stanley Stanley Steemer is coming today to do my carpets. They’ll be here promptly between 10:00 AM and 2:00 PM. That means that I’ll get the call that they’re coming probably around 2:15 and they’ll be here until 5:00 or so. However, once they’re gone, I’ll have clean carpets. They probably won’t look clean, but that’s because they’re old and the people who lived here before me didn’t keep them clean. There are some ground in stains that probably won’t come out, and there are a few places where there’s paint on the carpet because I have little skill with a paint brush or roller. Eventually, I’ll get new carpet, but that won’t be for a while. I hope that Stanley gets here soon; I’ve got all the stuff from the dining room stacked up in the kitchen and I won’t be cooking until it all gets moved back. In the meantime, I’m stuck here in the house waiting for the call that they’re coming. It’s a beautiful day; I’ve got windows open all around the house. The temp is in the high 70s and I’ve got the thermostat shut off. No heat or A/C is needed. I’m thinking that I should go down to the garage and maybe clean and polish the Roadster. By rights, I should wash it, first. I had it out in rain the other day and it has a bit of road phlegm all over it. Then again, I could put the black pieces I bought for it on and save the washing for after I’m done. The only problem is that it’s supposed to start raining around 5:00, so I probably won’t get to wash it. This is called a Quality Problem. My life is so good that I actually debate with myself whether I should do one thing or the other. This also ignores the fact that I’m not completely healed and I don’t know if I’m even capable of either washing the bike or wrenching on it. I might find out that I can’t really wash it because I can’t kneel to clean parts of the bike. But I suppose I can try and see how far I get. Stanley just called. They’re running a bit behind schedule, so they won’t be here until between Two and Three. What a surprise! That means 3:30, if I’m any judge. I wonder how long it’ll take to clean the carpets. I guess I’ll be fixing an easy, quick meal for dinner. I’ll nuke some pulled pork and heat up a can of baked beans. Still, at least my carpet will be clean. I’ve been mulling over my trip to Massachusetts. I think I’ll make it in early July. I wasn’t sure if it would be better to go before or after the Weedsport Short Track which is on July 13. If I go early, I can catch the race on the way back home. Then again, if I go to the race first, then if I run low on cash, it won’t be as long until I get my next SS deposit. I keep going back and forth about whether it would be better to be in Massachusetts for the Fourth or if it would be better to have more cash available sooner if I should overspend. Probably the latter, but we’ll see. I’m thinking about calling the trip the Gluttony Tour. I want to get good New England Pizza from Nana’s in Malden, The Chateau in Waltham and I want to go to Casserta’s in Providence, Rhode Island. I want to buy a bunch of cans of B&M Bacon & Onion Baked Beans and ship them back home. I also want to figure out how to send myself some Kayem Natural Casing Franks. I still think they’re the Nadir of hot dogs. Oh! I almost forgot; I want to include a bunch of jars of Cain’s Sweet Pickle Relish with the baked beans. And I want to go to Redbones for dinner one night. I have yet to find anyone who does Brisket even remotely as good. Redbones is to Brisket what Mark’s Brother in Law is to Pulled Pork. Redbones also has the absolute best beans I’ve gotten at a BBQ joint. And I want to get a Sundae at Coleen’s in Medford. Brigham’s strawberry ice cream with hot fudge and marshmallow. No cherry or nuts or anything else. I also want to see my friends as well. That’s the biggest reason for going. Ernie, Candy, Billy, Guido, Guy, Sandra , Jimmy and the rest at the shop, Tammy, Katherine, Kevin, Jackie (Jacqui?), Happy Pat, Little Carol, Murph, Kathryn and all the rest. I miss them all. Well; it’s 2:00. I wonder when Stanley’s going to show up. | ||
| 86129squids |
Hey Crusticle- I'll be sure to bring you some of the hotdogs I get from Benton's here locally. He gets them from a place in Louisville KY, Fischer's Meats. Dang good dogs. | ||
| Crusty |
Sometimes… Sometimes, it’s cheaper to buy the more expensive product. I wear slippers around the house. It helps to keep the carpets cleaner for a longer period of time; plus, they’re more comfortable. For a few years, I’d been wearing some moccasin styled slippers from LL Bean. The lining wore through and the foam under it was shredding and bunching up making them uncomfortable. It was time for a new pair. But they were expensive; they cost $50.00/pair and my inner cheapskate recoiled from shelling out that much dough. So, last fall, I bought a pair of cheap slippers from Wally World. They lasted two months, then the soles started cracking, then chunks started breaking off. So I went a little more upscale and bought a pair of Isotoners, just before Christmas They lasted less than three months, then the same thing happened to them. The good news is that I didn’t throw out the old and tired LL Beans. When I total up the cost of the two pairs, it almost equals the cost of a pair of LL Beans, yet the Beans have lasted for years, while the cheapos lasted only a couple of months each pair. I got the Beans for Christmas in either 2013 or 14, so in the end, they lasted something like 16 times as long for only twice the price. My inner cheapskate is now on alert and the next pair of slippers that I buy will be from LL Bean. Sometimes that same principle applies to my motorcycling purchases. A few years ago, my wife and I bought Tourmaster Transition jackets. They were reasonably priced and they looked as good as other Textile jackets and they seemed like a bargain. Terri’s jacket was waterproof, but mine was not. I got wet every time it rained. Also, the sleeve fabric “Pilled” on mine in a very short time. Terri’s jacket had the material pull apart. It’s a good thing that neither of us ever went down while wearing them; I think they had the abrasion resistance of wet Scott toilet paper (no offence is intended to Scott). In less than a year, we had to purchase new jackets. Then again, it’s possible to pay too much for an item. While all the higher end riding suits have their advocates, sometimes a more expensive item isn’t as good as its reputation. I’ve had my best luck and experience with First Gear. I had a Kilimanjaro jacket that I bought on Closeout for short money that lasted for years. The Buell Adventure suit that I bought back in 1999 was another winner. Both of those were high quality and the best riding gear I’ve owned. I still miss that old Buell jacket. It was a Good One. It was pricey when I bought it, but I never begrudged the price. In the long run, it was definitely worth it. There is other gear that I won’t skimp on. Helmets, for instance. I’ve always tended to buy good quality helmets. I really value the functioning of my brain. It’s feeble enough without being smashed into jelly. For years, I worked underground as a Miner, and I’ve seen and experienced what cheap hard hats offer for protection. Waking up with a concussion while being carried out of a tunnel is not an experience I recommend. The old Bell Helmets slogan comes to mind, “If you have a ten dollar head, wear a ten dollar helmet” My head is definitely worth more to me. When I had my accident in March, I slammed my head on the pavement. Hard. My helmet did its job. So I went and bought another of the same brand. There’s an old expression; buy Quality and you cry once; buy Cheap and you cry frequently. I like Quality. | ||
| 86129squids |
I like what Rob Pirsig had to say about Quality. | ||
| Tootal |
Define Quality! That's exactly where my head went too Brad! | ||
| 86129squids |
"Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" was a fun but difficult read- managed to read it twice. Been a while. His sequel, "Lila" was pretty good too, he substitutes a sailboat for the motorcycle, uses it as a similar metaphor. Given the title, a woman is involved. Worth a look! I doubt any studio would bother, but someone should work "Zen" into a worthwhile screenplay- IMHO it could be made into a great movie. Heck... now I gotta watch "World's Fastest Indian" again. My copy doesn't have the original documentary though, dangit. |
