Odds & Sods

 

Hard to beat John Lee Hooker if you're looking for a toe-tapper.

Before anyone complains, I know wife beating is not funny. However, if you're a boxing coach, that's laugh out loud funny. 

Twin engined Royal Enfield drag bike and Bonneville competitor. Some of the welding looks pretty rough, but the engineering work must have been solid.

This is the cover photo from the Superbike book I got for Christmas from Surly. It's chock-full of really good photos of when the Superbike series was basically a run what you brung deal and the later years when the rules started to kill some of the creativity. The stories accompanying the photos are by Kevin Cameron, a name everyone who read Cycle or Cycle World back then would be familiar with. 

When the guys in the book were racing, Surly and I were going to the track to watch them. I was also doing quite a bit of frame work about that time. Mostly on drag bikes, but a few road racers. I was all about those Superbikes. 

Went to a hockey game last night in Indy. Good game, lots of action. Big fight broke out with 5.6 seconds left at the end of the second period. Everybody was duking it out in front of the Komets' goal and then Indy's goalie skated down and the two goalies were throwing punches. Then all the other players stopped and watched the goalies. When the third period started the announcer listed all the penalties. Only two guys went to the penalty box, though. If everyone involved went to the box, they would've had a couple of minutes with no-one on the ice. Quite the scrum.

That's about all for 2023. We'll see what 2024 brings and at this point, who the hell knows.

Year in Review

 Looking back over 2023 with some relief from the previous couple of years. 

The big Covid pandemic scare is mostly over. People are still suffering from the after-effects of the shots, and it has come to light that much of what we were told was pure bull shit, but the concern with masks and vaccine passports is mostly a thing of the past. 

On the home front, I dealt with some health issues. These were mostly the result of my lifestyle. I screwed up my shoulder at the boxing club while holding punch mitts. This resulted in a frozen shoulder. The doctor sent me to therapy for six weeks, three times per week. No help there and the limited movement slowed me down on a lot of things. A visit to a surgeon and a cortisone shot set me on the path to redemption, though.

I developed an infection in my big toe - back to the doctor. Antibiotics for two weeks, no help. Antifungal for two weeks, no help. Antibacterial for two weeks, no help. Abandoned the local doctor, went to a foot specialist and problem solved in about ten minutes. She figured I dropped something heavy on my toe by the way the toenail came off when she grabbed it with the pliers. Other than a little pain for a couple days, no biggie. 6 to 8 months I should have a perfectly fine toenail once again.

The only major project of the year was the Sportster. What looked to be an easy fix to get myself a "runner", turned into a fairly major project. I way underestimated both the time and money for this one. The shoulder and toe both contributed to the time element, but it's just about there finally. I've got it covered up for the winter but only a couple of little things to do in the spring - assuming the engine is in fairly decent shape since I've never had it running. I'm planning on keeping it, so whatever it takes in the future, I'll deal with. 

Only one little travel trip on the year. Cuzzin Ricky and I went to Ohio to see my brother, his wife and another cousin. Saw the AMA museum while we were there. Nice weekend. 

Rick and I only went to two races on the season and one of those got rained out. We'll be planning on getting out more in '24 as soon as the schedules come out. Rick says we should see more midget events. No argument here.

I did several 5k events and put quite a few miles in on the bicycle. Joined a health club to try and get some muscle built back up and read 30 books on the year.

As for plans for the coming year, not much on the agenda at the present time. Need to finish the vintage trials bike and get the jitney closer to being done. I moved some things around in the shop on Christmas Eve so I could get the trials bike up front and have room to work on it. I need to put in a couple more hours out there making it a bit more user friendly, but I made a move in the right direction. 

I'm going back to work at the college. A couple of the instructors are leaving, so I may be doing a bit more than I originally planned. It pays well for a part time job, and I can spend that money guilt free. Maybe use it to trade up for the new Himalayan.   

I'm thinking that things nationally and internationally are going to be chaotic, so I'm not going to make too many travel plans. Stick close to home and pick shit with the chickens. And, of course, count my many blessings.  

My best to all of you on the upcoming year.  

50 Mile Challenge

 

I took the pickup to the dealership the other day for an oil change and once over. This Bronco was on the showroom floor and only $62K with dealer prep and delivery charge added in. It obviously is not the base model, but it is the one I'd be shopping for if I was willing to go back to work full time. I can't imagine making those payments. My pickup is a 2016, is garage kept and has only 36,000 miles on the clock - might just be the last new vehicle I ever own. I do like the looks of that Bronco, though. Four-wheel drive and it only has two doors - as it should be.

I've been thinking about what I can do to keep myself on the right path as far as my physical fitness. I've done a marathon, a century (100 mile) ride on the bicycle, along with several self-contained bike tours of 200-to-500-mile lengths. I don't know how many short runs and race walks I've done over the years, starting with a 10.5 miler in 1976 my boxing coach "urged" me to sign up for, but the one year my buddy Kevin and I did 13, including two half marathons if I remember correctly. 

I've been kicking around the idea of taking the 50 mile challenge for a few years - 50 miles in 20 hours. As an old dude I remember President Kennedy trying to toughen all of us up, only to be assassinated for his trouble (just one more conspiracy theory). The 50 mile challenge originated with President Teddy Roosevelt and was revived by Kennedy. If you look at Generals Austin and Milley, might not be a bad idea to revive the challenge for military officers once again, which was Roosevelt's original idea. Milley is 8 years younger than I am, so he should be able to whip himself into shape and set a good example on the national stage - be a good retirement gig for him.

Anyway, 2024 just might be year. Coach Jen is talking about a half marathon in May, so she'll be in good shape and might be talked into it. With or without her, if I can find someone else ambitious enough, that'll work. If not, I'll try it solo and I'll just need someone to drop me off and ferry my tired ass back home.

Buon Natale

 

Merry Christmas everyone. 

Peace to you all.

Scratch It If It Itches

That's me - itchin' like a man on a fuzzy tree. I thought I had scabies but the doc says it's some type of rash similar to athlete's foot. I figure I picked it up at the health club but who the hell knows. It sure as shit itches, though. He prescribed a 10 day treatment and I hope it works. 

I've read 29 books this year, so I went to the library to get an easy read to finish off the year with an even 30 on the count. I just finished a couple by Tim Dorsey, found them enjoyable, so I thought I'd grab another one by him. However, while perusing the new book section, I came across this little doozy. I started reading it yesterday while in the waiting room of the surgery center while the Missus was getting some work done. I'm about 50 pages into it and it's very interesting. I'll definitely get this one finished by the end of the year. 

This one was on the shelf of new books also. I never read any book that's 500 pages or more, but after you subtract all the references in the back, it's under 500 - not much under but under just the same. I might check that one out and give it a go. I've read a few blogs that mention the "fourth turning" so I think it would be a great idea. Add this one and the previous one together and they should keep my paranoia well fed for quite a while.

I'm hoping the Stoic philosophy will steer me in that direction. It's only going to get worse from here.

Soul Christmas

 

A couple of Soul Christmas diddies - Christmas is only a week away now. The weather was a little more Christmas like yesterday morning with a bit of snow on the ground and temps in the twenties. It's supposed to be back up to the fifties Christmas Day - no snow but chance of rain.

Meanwhile back at the ranch, funeral last Thursday. We left the house at 10:00 and got home about 5:00. Long day but things went pretty smooth for a funeral. Health club on Friday and the boxing gym on Saturday. I worked 3 rounds each on the double end, heavy and speed bags. The muscles are starting to firm up - not as squishy as they were and the speed bag work is helping to keep the shoulder loosened up long way to go to get back to where I was prior to Covid. Doctor appointment today, Missus has a procedure on Thursday. 

It's about time to for me to look back over the year and plan for 2024 - not like I ever follow through on too many of my plans, but with what's on the horizon, plans are probably going to have to be pretty flexible.

Himalayan & Tunes

 

Big fan of Redbone - no idea how old he was when he passed away a few years ago. He was always kind of a mystery but it seemed to work for him. I especially like this cut. This song got a lot of bad press a couple of years back and stations weren't playing it due to the theme of a man holding a woman against her will. My way of thinking the people complaining are the same sorts that took down the Kate Smith, Cristopher Columbus and Robert E. Lee statues - friggin' crybabies.

Since I've been on a motorcycle kick of late, I checked out a few sites I occasionally visit and ran across this at Pipeburn. The new 2024 Royal Enfield Himalayan. I'm pretty happy with mine but it's definitely underpowered. The new model's going to take care of that. Mine has a displacement of 411cc and makes 18 horsepower. The new one has a displacement of 450cc and makes more than twice the power of mine. Enfield also has an electric version of the Himalayan that will be coming out next year. The article didn't mention the price of either of the models but I'd like to see what it would cost to trade up for one of the new gas powered ones.

The grandson and I went to the college Tuesday evening. I wanted to catch the weather before I left but the news was interrupted by Slow Joe and Zelensky wanting to give some more American tax dollars away. After a couple of minutes of that bullshit, I gave up on the weather and headed out. On the way home from the college, the news came on the radio and they started playing Slow Joe's speech. Since I'd already heard it earlier I punched a button for a different station and got Cindi Lauper with Girls Just Want to Have Fun. I decided right then and there I'd much rather have Cindi Lauper for president than what we've got now. I'm guessing she wouldn't be the most qualified candidate that we've ever had, but she'd be a lot more fun than what we've got now.