MSgt3227 LeatherCrafters

This morning Grace & I participated in the  "37th annual Capital City Century ... Distance options on this recreational ride are 10, 25, 40, 62 and 100 miles over flat to slightly rolling terrain. The CCC features organized food stops, SAG service, and a post-ride party at the Beach House on Lake Springfield."  We rode the 25 mile option, primarily because I wasn't feeling well most of the week (passed a few kidney stones, bout of the upchuckers symphony, bit of aching in the hands arms & legs ... WAAAAH! gimme a whaaaa-mburger.  with a side order of french cries...).  It was a glorious morning and it was just so strange to be riding on "our" country roads with other bicyclists!! Usually we are the only ones out there for miles on end, rarely even a car. The route was clearly marked and sag support was often and regular.  Well done!!

Only complaint I had was some of the other bicyclists who either don't know the Rules of the Road or choose to ignore them, and those who have no road etiquette.  Saw one guy was was swerving all over both lanes on the road while there was motorized traffic trying to get around him.  He wasn't impaired, just stupid!  Had a large number of cyclists who would ride up and pass us without "announcing" themselves (you know, a ding on the ole bell or "bike on your left").  That's just rude.  

Illinois Bicycle Laws

Tuesday suddenly became the ICONIC Guys Road Trip Day.  My buddy Wayne sold his Honda Goldwing on the internet to a guy from out east.  They arranged to meet at an airport in eastern Ohio early in the afternoon on Tuesday.  Wayne asked me to ride along shotgun.  I agreed, and so, Tuesday morning at 4:56 am Wayne was at the end of the driveway in his truck with the Goldwing on the trailer behind.  Off we go... we stopped at a Macs on the east side of Springfield to grab a bite to eat.  I got the pancakes with no butter or syrup. Period. Wayne got some awful Macs-type breakfast glop and a diet coke.  The guy at the window was giving Wayne his change and dumped all the coinage on the ground. No apology, no counting out more change. Just walked away from the window. Nice trick, dude....

So off we head, east, into the dark foggy morning, with the horizon promising a sunrise.  The trailer with bike onboard rode well, and we cruised along comfortably with very little other traffic.  The Illinois road at that point was surprisingly smooth and unencumbered with construction.  And so we yacked and joked and laughed and teased and insulted.  We commented on how iconic this trip was - two guys delivering a motorcyle, driving along with few worries and no solid time table.  We made good time, and even with a few gas/potty stops, and managed to pull into the airport (the buyer had flown there) almost exactly 7 hours after we left home. The buyer guy was very likable, about our age (early/mid 50s) and the transaction went quite smooth.  Only slow down was a discussion about notarizing the bill of sale and/or title.  I kept mentally kicking myself for not bringing my notary seal along, but in Illinois, we don't need to notarize titles anymore .  We resolved that issue, and then the motorcycle was pointed east, and we were pointed west, on the road again.  As we cruised on down the highway we kept trying to decide if we should drive back home or stop somewhere for the night.  Finally decided to see how we felt by the time we got through Ohio.  And by the time we hit Indiana, we decided we were pretty darned tired and started looking for a Holiday Inn Express.  Finally saw a sign for one on an official highway sign pointing us into New Castle, Indiana.  What we discovered is there really is NO Holiday Inn of any type there, anymore.  But the oldest car dealer in Indiana is. Goodwin Bros. (www.goodwinbrosauto.com ) And as we drove past we saw a black Dodge Challenger on the lot.  We stopped. Of course. Wayne had recently been looking at Challengers to replace the motorcycle we had just delivered, as his "toy".  And he had test driven a 2009 maroon SE with V6 and 4 spd auto trans.  The 2010 on the Goodwin lot was black metallic SE, V6, 5 spd tranny.  MUCH prettier IMHO... The sales guy was very good, and tolerant, and actually bent over backwards to answer all our questions knowing that since we were from Illinois, any Challenger-sales would probably happen in Wayne's world (Illinois).  We left New Castle and drove to the east side of Indy where we found a hotel.

Needless to say, the conversation centered mostly on cars, and what the pros/cons were of Challengers in IN vs. IL. Which one either of us liked better, etc.  We had originally planned to spend a lot of time talking band stuff - revising the song/gig list, gig bookings in the near future, arrangements, etc.  I think we spent a total of 24 minutes on the band.  The other HOURS of talking was - CARS.  And so the next morning after breakfast we left the hotel, and headed EAST again, back to New Castle to test drive the 5 speed Challenger.  What a ride!  Smooth, taut, the 5 speed was perfectly matched to the V6 .  And classic looks, very reminiscent of my '68 Camaro.  After a coupla hours at the dealership, we again headed west.  And four more hours of car talk... Wayne finally dropped me off at my driveway at 3:30 Weds afternoon.  It was good to be back home!!!  It had been quite a fun trip, but good to be back in the arms of my wife again.  And I didn't have to make any car decisions, so no stress for me!!  (Wayne is still debating the car issue, having test driven a RED SE in Springfield last night).

A beautiful sunny Monday arvo. According to the comcast homepage it's 48 degrees.  Spent most of the morning cleaning the house, partly as a general purpose post Christmas clean, partly in preparation for New Year's eve. Grace & Mollie went for run with Amy and the two "big" dogs, so I spent a little time on the rowing maching in preparation for starting to sorkout seriously so i can see if my knee will be in shape for a bike trip to Scotland this summer.  Had considered going to Lefthanders and shooting the falling plates for while with the Vaqueros, but decided to do that tomorrow...

A couple friends were over yesterday afternoon, and I was talking to them about the beautiful table centerpiece display Grace had put together for the holiday.  Here is a small sampling of what it looks like:

Then we discussed MY contribution to the table, which is something only a guy could envision and accomplish, as evidenced by this:

I am in the process of making a gunbelt and holster rig for another member of the 114th who is wanting to develop a nineteenth century western cowboy persona for some of the historical interpretations he does.  This requires lots of room to spread out, and the dining room table is IDEAL.  I would normally do this in the workshop, but being that the workshop is really the old garage, and has no heat, and it is wintery cold these days, I have opted for inside the house for this project.  Fortuantely, Grace is very understanding!

WHEW!!

About a month ago, the spammers bounced through the site and started dumping their slime in my Comments box.  I spent a couple hours deleting their filth a week or so ago.  They came back and refilled the Comments.  so, I've disabled the Comments box. Unfortunately, Comcast does not have controls on the Comments box to prevent this type of automated spamming. Shame!

 Well, what does one do?  Lots of time on my hands, so I have become much more relaxed. Did I mention I love the hot tub? My in-laws (whose house I am squatting in) put in a hot tub room a few years ago.  It is wonderful!  Especially when the temp is in  the teens, as it has been this week.

Also doing some leatherwork. but not much else. Grace is working on anther screenplay, and am looking forward to reading it!

Cheers!

... of retirement.  I awoke about 5-ish with low blood level which gave me an excuse to eat something.  I took the dog (Mollie) for a walk over near Spencer House yesterday afternoon, and did a little running.  All this "exercise" helps lower blood glucose levels so not upset.

I love Google street view!!

Yesterday it got up to about 50* and partly sunny. So spent quite a bit of time with yeard work - moved the composter (bio-orb) closer to the house, rolled the old rotting dog house down the hill into the woods, covered the pontoon boat with a NEW canvas tarp, put the folding chairs into the rafters of the garage, even put up a santa yard prop...

 Grace is fighting off a cold, and drank probably a gallon or two of various teas throughout the day.  She sounds a bit croaky, but she looks good (she always looks good IMHO)

down.

Good news!!!!  http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2008/12/source-feds-take-gov-blagojevich-into-custody.html

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