We had a pretty good storm move through here tonight, and the power is out. Of course we’ve still got Internet connectivity, though I did power off the server to keep the UPS from dying too early. Got to get some more emergency lighting, and maybe a small generator might not be too terrible of an idea. Overall, we’re OK… some LED lights, candles, cell phones, laptops on battery power. We’ll survive until OPPD gets around to us. We’re just hoping the Scouts hit by a tornado at Little Sioux aren’t hurt badly.
Things We Learned On The Road
After riding over 2600 miles over the course of our 10-day road trip to Charlotte and Charleston, there are a number of lessons we learned.
Double-check the mileage between your hotels. Nothing sucks quite like having reservations 50 miles past where you planned to make them, and 45 miles past your comfortable riding limit.
GPS is nice, but it’s also a good idea to print out or write down directions just in case.
When your route takes you through a major city, allow some extra time (and hassle) for detours. Try to avoid arriving right at rush hour, it sucks. Continue reading “Things We Learned On The Road”
Saw an interesting wreck tonight.
Lisa & I were out in front of our hotel in Charlotte while I was cleaning up the poor, abused, filthy Ultra. We saw some twit trying to figure out how to do a wheelie in the street out front. About 10 minutes later, there’s a big noise from the parking lot of the TGI Friday’s next door, engine screaming followed by the sight of something on the far end of the parking lot rocketing along and slamming into something. Hard. Lisa and I went to see what happened, since we’re both over 40 and first aid trained.
The poor bastard had somehow managed to low-side across the parking lot Continue reading “Saw an interesting wreck tonight.”
Devil May Care
Devil May Care is the latest attempt at a James Bond novel. Ian Fleming died in 1964, and so far no one has been able to successfully resurrect either him or his writing style. Sadly, the latest attempt by Sebastian Faulks is no exception. It’s a good book, and a decent Bond, but Faulks is no Fleming no matter how hard he may try.
In fact, trying too hard seems to be why this effort falls a little short of the mark. One of the most common (and most aggravating) mistakes
I’ve seen made in the newer attempts has been a lack of subtlety. Yes, Fleming would mention Bond’s choice of specific brands from time to time, but didn’t club you over the head with them. Faulks seems at times to be name-dropping in an attempt to get the reader to more closely identify with the “old” Bond. Many references are made to earlier Bond novels, and character names are dredged up in ways that seem to be a little overkill.
Then there is the story itself. Because we’re in the present decade, naturally it has to be set in the Middle East, with short stints in 1960s London. Faulks works in numerous historical references to Vietnam, 60s drug culture and other foreshadowing elements, but it feels a little hollow at times. The whole Scarlet/Poppy thing is more than a little transparent as well, and I find it difficult to imagine M would have ever even considered a female Double-0 during that or the following decade to begin with.
All in all I enjoyed the read, but as a Bond novel it’s not all that close to Fleming’s quality of work. Having the whole “writing as Ian Fleming” thing, I think, does this book as well as Fleming’s memory a disservice.
Dixie Road Trip, day 3
An easy 200 mile ride today got us to Charlotte. The ride through the Smoky Mountains was beautiful, and we managed to avoid the rain — though not the road spray from cars, buses and trucks since the road was wet most of the way through the mountains. We got into Charlotte around 1:30 or so Continue reading “Dixie Road Trip, day 3”
Dixie Road Trip, day 2
11 hours and 524 miles… is just a little too much. We dodged rain in the afternoon going through Tennessee, but the ride was beautiful. A little sunburn on the arms. We stopped at Dale’s H-D in Mt. Vernon, IL and got some shirts… HAD to do that, of course! When we finally got to Newport, TN to the hotel, we were Continue reading “Dixie Road Trip, day 2”
Dixie Road Trip, day 1
Well, it was a long day but not too bad, all things considered. We left a little late (surprise!), got rained on a little, had to suit up and get rained on a LOT, pulled off and got hailed on while taking shelter in the doorway of a church, and spent the last couple of hours trying to outrun a storm. All’s well that ends well. We spent almost exactly 12 hours Continue reading “Dixie Road Trip, day 1”
Road trip!
| Omaha, NE to Charlotte, NC. 3 days, 1180 miles, and a side trip to Charleston, SC. I think I’ll probably be adding GPS to the bike before we leave, mostly to get the trip computer functions. Part of it is laziness. We used to run SCCA road rallies, so we got pretty good at TSD (Time/Speed/Distance) calculations. In fact, I still have an 80s vintage Casio programmable calculator we used to to TSD calculations on the fly when running in the assisted class. Still, while that’s pretty easy to do with a navigator in a car, it’s not terribly practical on a bike. It would be nice to see our average speed and ETA as we ride, so we know for sure whether we need to speed up or can keep a more leisurely pace. Besides, it’s good for finding one’s way back to the planned route, just in case.I’m excited to make the trip. | |
| The ride across Missouri isn’t much to brag about, but we’ll be going through what I have been told is some incredible scenery, especially once we get across the Mississippi. We’ll cross our first mountains and get to see the western part of the Carolinas. Once we hit Charlotte I’m really looking forward to doing a little sightseeing, exploring the area with Lisa, etc. I know the trip from Charlotte to Charleston is a pretty nice ride, as I’ve made that a couple of times. |  |
| I even ordered a little powder… 🙂 Now to get the rest of the preparation work done! The oil has been changed, I’ll probably replace the tranny & primary fluids as well. The rest of the bike is in fine shape and ready for the road. | |
One partial solution for airline security
I have an idea that I think would greatly improve the safety and security of air travel. Why not deputize a large number of ordinary, non-professional law enforcement people who travel regularly as auxiliary Air Marshals? Take people who fly regularly and shoot regularly, can demonstrate superb accuracy with a handgun under realistic conditions, can pass a training course and qualify. Give them the training they need to handle hijacking and terrorism situations in the air — make sound shoot/no-shoot decisions, when to engage and when to shut up and sit still, that sort of thing. Allow them to fly armed with concealed weapons and special ID. Now you have a significant possibility that any given flight, especially those on heavily traveled routes, will have at least one trained, armed person aboard who is able and willing to prevent a hijacking or terror attack. Continue reading “One partial solution for airline security”
It’s officially Spring
I went out this morning to check the fruit trees in the back yard, as I try to do every couple of days. We have hundreds of tiny little apricots starting to form! Right now they’re about half the size of a healthy grape, oblong and green… but it looks like we’ll have a bumper crop of apricots this year.
The apple tree is in full bloom, and should be following along in a few weeks!