Facebook will do away with Reunion.com and Classmates.com

Facebook is crack!  All it takes is one little hit and it consumes your whole world.  As my friend described Facebook to his wife, it is World of Warcraft for the social crowd. If you haven’t been bit by the bug you either don’t know anybody to communicate with, don’t have a computer, or believe it is just for the 20 something crowd. 

Facebook has steadily been picking up steam. I originally got an account to check up on my Daughter when she went to college. Kind of an easy way to check up without really being there.  But soon I started doing searches for people and things I knew…At first it was very hard to find anyone…but then over the last year or so it seems like everyone has gotten the message.  So much so I have come to give the prediction that is the title of this entry “Facebook will do away with Reunion.com and Classmates.com”!

I do believe it is true.  After playing around with both Reunion and Classmates it became very clear that in the days before Facebook or MySpace it was really the only real destination if you wanted to know what your old classmates were doing.  As my own 20th reunion approached it became the site to be on. But there was one big drawback…In order to see anything beyond a name and a year of graduation you had to pay for a subscription.  If you wanted to see someones guestbook message, you had to be a paying member. If you wanted to see where someone lived, you had to be a paying member.  I dutifully entered all my personal info but always had a problem getting out the credit card and buying that membership. For our reunion we had a site setup where people could leave guestbook comments and post some pictues and get info about the events that were coming up.  It was a fantastic concept.  It wasn’t long after I got on facebook I started to look up some of these same people that I had went to the reunion with, but now on facebook.

At first very slow going. Not many 40 somethings were that tied into computers or were early adopters of a “Social Networking site”. I mean most of us are married and have kids. The last thing I was going to waste my time on was some dateing/ college web site where people just talked about how drunk they were the night before.  I think that was the first image I had of facebook but as I started to use it more I saw where people were also using it for all sorts of other things. From signing up to be a fan of your favorite beer, to joining the cause with others who hate Hillary Clinton, to becoming a fan of your favorite fast food resturant, or signing up to be a fan of Edward from Twilight…It was starting to become much more than just an I outdid your drunken picture site.

That is when I created a group for my High School and started inviting a few of my friends….and just like a crazy pyramid scheme, it started to quickly blossom as they told two friends, and they told two friends and etc.  Within a few months there were over 200 people who had joined and then 400 and it is still growing. 

The best part and this is why I think that Facebook will kill the class reunion sites, it is all free.  If you want to post pictures for others to see you can, nobody has to pay to see them.  If you want to email or write on a friends page you can and don’t have to pay.  Based on the info they post about themselves you can find out quite a bit. If  little Johnny has a sniffel or if someone already I am trying to use it as a main communcation site for contacting my classmates for our 25th and 30th reunion.

Mark my words class reunion sites days are numbered….

Football season is almost over…

I was just looking at my blog and found that it was just before football season opened when I wrote my last entry…and now here the regular season is over and we are in the playoffs.  Its also kind of strange because this is the first year in about 13 that I didn’t renew my Cardinals Season tickets…And like Murphy’s Law of course the Cardinals are not only in the playoffs but are one (very winnable) game away from going to the Superbowl.  That statement alone is pretty strange.  Never did I think I would ever be seeing the potential of the Cardinals in the Superbowl. That is just crazy talk!  I did manage to go to one game this year, the Vikings game and of course the Cardinals got blown out…it figures.  But I still had fun tail-gating before the game.  That is also something strange in all the years I had season tickets I never tail-gated before a game.  Hard to believe but it just seemed like too much work and time. The only nice thing is that I have not missed a game this year.  Since the new stadium has sold out every game since opening, we have not experienced a blackout yet.  Back when I had tickets I was lucky to make it to 8 of the 10 home games and most years usually about 5.  So in all maybe it IS because I no longer go to the games, as the reason they are doing so well.  Maybe all my yelling on the sidelines was a distraction or a motivation for the opponents!  Yea, I’m going to go with that….thats it!  I’m the reason the Cardinals are doing so well this year!   Of course now that I have blogged about it I have probably doomed them to lose the Championship game.  Opps, Sorry.

Quick update on life

Ok so its been a while since I blogged.  Ok a long while. I planned to be more consistant with blogging but its been busy.

So I thought I would just give a quick update on whats been going on…

I sold the Bike.  I was both happy and sad at the same time. Overall I think it was good.

Just got back from Vegas where we did our Fantasy Football Draft.  It was a blast but a quick trip.  Probably a new blog post on some of the stories from this trip…Anyways I am excited that tonight starts football season and I am only in 3 FF leagues.  And I used to hate football, go figure!

For our anniversary we went to San Diego and had a fantastic time with our friends Robert and Lisa.  The Phantom of the Opera was pretty amazing.  I was skeptical at first that I would like the opera but we had fantastic seats and the quality was amazing…not your local town HS play for sure.  San Diego nightlife is pretty crazy.  We arrived at 1 in the morning on a Friday and things were just starting to jump. Couldn’t believe the number of people on the street at that time.  The Midway Carrier museum was amazing!  I must go back!

Kids are all back in school. Life is back to more of a routine now, which is nice. Would like to plan a vacation getaway for sometime in the Fall…maybe a weekend east coast trip. I’ve been wanting to do that for a while now.

Well that’s it for now. Yeah NFL kickoff!

Who’s your Captain?

The other day at lunch we had a discussion about Sci- Fi shows and we were discussing the different Captains or leaders that had great character and exuded leadership skills.  As we were discussing some of the characters it became apparent that there were a whole range of skills and abilities in different leaders that lead me to form the question:  If I could choose a Captain/Leader for my Sci-Fi Battle Ship,  Which character would be the best choice?

Included here are a list of Characters with a brief synopsis of their key strengths. It would be interesting to see peoples responses or additions. I also wanted to include a list of not just the Heros but also the anti-heros (eg. Darth Vader) Maybe I will save that for another entry…

So without further build up here is a list I complied I’m sure you will see ones you haven’t ever seen or haven’t thought about in years:

Dr. John Robinson - Lost in Space (original series) One of the original models for the Captain role! Dr. Robinson is commander, a pilot, and the father of the Robinson children. He is an astrophysicist who also specializes in applied planetary geology. He can also throw a good punch when needed to a pesky alien.  Who else could navigate his lost family back home while dealing with all the problems caused by Dr. Zachery Smith.  Why the Robinson’s didn’t just leave him on the first planet they could I’m not sure.

Capt. James Tiberius Kirk – Star Trek Captain of the USS Enterprise, space explorer, alien chick magnet, and pretty good with a sword or a phaser. He is Errol Flynn of Space. He’s Kirk, and he’s survived countless battles and alien encounters (not to mention alien STD’s I’m sure) .  Kind of the prototype Capt,  Kirk was the bar for which all Star Trek Captains to come would be measured by and also influenced more than a couple of the roles listed her in the list. He battled Klingons, and saved whales for Earth…Not sure how he would have done against the Borg though…

Professor John Robinson – Lost in Space (1998 movie) William Hurts’ version of Professor Robinson is a bit different.  He has a edgier disposition than the original. In the updated Lost movie we have some better effects and more suspense than the original.  Gary Oldman nails the Dr. Smith character though, to hamper the Robinson family and gives Professor Robinson all he can handle.

Captain Lee Crane – Voyage to the bottom of the Sea. Captain of the Seaview. While Admiral Nelson called a lot of the shots it was Crane that was the muscle for the show.  Identified as Star Trek but with fish The Seaview and her crew are harassed by aliens sea monsters and even Dinosaurs.  Its Capt Crane that holds it all together to save the world!

Capt. Nathan Bridger – SeaQuest DSV Captain of the Seaquest its kind of a mix Sgt Brody from Jaws and a bit of Jack O’Neill from SG1. In what seems to be a updated version of Voyage to the bottom of the sea Bridger (for the first two seasons) commands the SeaQuest and doesn’t take much flack from the crew or his superiors.  Interestingly  Bridger (Scheider)  is replaced in season 3 by Capt Oliver Hudson played by (Michael Ironside) whom appears below in another role…

Capt. Jeffery Sinclair – Babalyon 5- I mean what can you say about a guy who isn’t just the reincarnation of the Minbari leader and Hero (Valen) but actually the genuine article who traveled back in time 1000 years to become the hero and stop the Shadows. I mean willing to ram a ship after your fighter is disabled is pretty gutsy!

John Sheridan – Babylon 5- Filling Sinclair’s shoes was not easy but Sheridan proved to be up to the task.  He wasn’t afraid to get dirty. Dealing with Vorlons and Shadows as well as the Psi Corps was quite an achievement. He also had the Kirk-like distinction of xeno-relations, how can you not like this guy? He is strong and gritty and a long way from his Scarecrow and Ms. King role.

Capt William Anthony “Buck” Rogers – Buck Rogers in the 25th Century Buck is frozen for 500 years and then thrust into the 25th century, (this is apparently a popular beginning for sci fi shows). He adapts surprisingly well to a completely foreign technically advanced future. While he doesn’t face the Alien encounter as his nemesis, Buck working for the Earth Defense Directorate, has his hands full with Princess Ardala and her Henchman Kane as they try to take over the earth. While missing the special effects of later shows, and having some dorky side kicks like Twiki the robot, this Buck still has enough of the pep seen in the old comic strip to save the day, I just wish he would have bagged Colonel Wilma Deering (Erin Gray was hot back then).

William Adama- Battle Star Galactica (New BSG series Edward James Olmos) A darker more brooding Adama is the leader of the Galactica and leads the rag tag group across the universe with Nasty Cylons in chase. His gravelly voice and rough demeanor make him someone you don’t want to piss off. The guy jumped his battlestar into the atmosphere of New Caprica to launch his fighters and then takes on a fleet of Cylon basestars. That guy has quite a fraking set!

Commander Adama – Battle Star Galactica (old BSG series Lorne Green) – He was as much a politician as a military commander. Adama is a fair and beloved leader, with almost unquestioned authority. He is a deeply religious man who is shepherding the refugees to Earth. A different character when compared to the new BSG series Adama. More political and religious he matches the new Adama in accomplishment, just in a different way. Kind of a kinder gentler type but don’t piss him off!

Han Solo- Star Wars Han Solo is a superb smuggler with a wry wit, skepticism,  a reckless disposition, and technological savvy who pilots the Millennium Falcon along with his Wookiee copilot Chewbacca. Lucas describes him as “a loner who realizes the importance of being part of a group and helping for the common good.” Joss Whedon credits the Falcon as one of the inspirations for the Firefly ship and also Malcom’s character. The Scene with Greedo I think sums up his ability to get out of a tight spot. Besides I wouldn’t want to follow Luke down a lighted street at this stage of the story! Much rather buckle in the the Falcon to shoot down tie fighters.

Commander John Koenig – Space 1999 Leader of Moonbase Alpha Commander Koenig. Thrust into the role of leading a group of people riding on what is left of the Moon that was ejected into space after a nuclear explosion.  Koenig is moody and gruff but he makes the decisions he has to.  He battles aliens, asteroids, and robots oh my!

Capt. Jean-Luc Picard – Star Trek The Next Generation Much was said about Capt. Picard being able to fill Kirk’s shoes in the new series.  It didn’t take long before the new crew and new Capt carved out their own place in Star Trek Lore. I mean he has a Maneuver named after him (the Picard Maneuver) , Not to mention he was assimilated into the Borg and lived to tell about it! He also had his share of ladies to rival Kirk and his crew wasn’t too bad at womanizing either…very much in the vein of classic Star Trek.

Colonel  Jack O’Neill - Stargate SG1O’Neill of the series is much more flexible and different than the Movie O’Neil (played by Kurt Russell). This Jack is much cooler headed and much more Intelligent. This Jack has more than just some displaced Egyptians and a single Alien to fight against.  Having the Goa Uld to contend with and 24 other teams of Stargate teams Colonel O’Neill had to handle plenty of issues as he explores the galaxy (he just doesn’t have a space ship to do it in).

Captain Dylan Hunt – Andromeda Dylan Hunt is the Captain of the Andromeda Ascendant with a strangely familiar story of being Frozen for 300 years (on the edge of a black hole) and then waking up to a completely foreign world to the one he knew.  Stop me if this sounds all to Buck Rogers familiar… Of course getting none other than Hercules himself (Kevin Sorbo) to play the captain role evokes much power.  Capt Hunt leads a rag tag group of salvagers to try to rebuild the Commonwealth and restore order to the Universe…not a short order to tackle!

Cmdr John Crichton -  Farscape Farscape was yet another strangely similar in story to being a Buck Rogers remake but way better…add in the muppet puppets and a better story. John Crichton has some serious struggles adapting to his new future after pissing off a very powerful alien force. John is more of a leader running for his life than an captain but as the series unfolds he develops into a strong leader that has to make civilization altering decisions and becomes a strong battle commander.

Malcom “Mal” Reynolds – Firefly Mal is the Capt of the Serenity and its renegade crew. A veteran of the war he now wants to put that behind him and live free on the Firefly. Living a bit outside of the law though he finds plenty of problems with the authorities and it seems his War past is usually behind the problems he finds. Unlike a lot of the other captains, Mal often gets his hands dirty and he also doesn’t have the best weapons or firepower he needs. He also keeps you guessing about his thoughts never quite know what direction he is going to go.

Capt. Kathryn Janeway – Star Trek Voyager Janeway is another unique SciFi minority being a female Captain of a starship. Propelled 70k light years into the Delta Quadrant she is all alone with her crew trying to get home. Janeway’s style is aggressive and she makes the tough choices, but she has a less strict compliance to the prime directive.  She uses to Borg to help get her crew home in a gutsy maneuver, which ends up earning her the rank of vice admiral who gives Picard orders in the Nemisis movie. Hows that for bolding going where no Picard has gone before…?!?

Lt. Col. Tyrus Cassius “TC” McQueen -  Space above and beyond With quite a few characters in this short lived space marine story TC seems to jump out as the leader although not the main character.  He helps lead his group of pilots the “Wildcards” against the Chigs.  TC is a bad ass who is in the fight to the bitter end.

Sgt. Al Apone -  Aliens The Hardass Drill Sergent in command of the Space Marines sent to check out the disappearance of colonists.  From his loud growl to his “I love the Corps” one liners, to the cigar hanging out of his mouth, he is pure confidence and control. Seeing the other higher level people in charge it doesn’t take long to realize that Apone is the best guy for the job of cleaning up Aliens! Not sure if any of the captains on this list have delt with anything as nasty as the Aliens.

Capt. Jonathan Archer – Star Trek Enterprise Archer is yet another different style Star Trek Captain. Being set in the role before Kirk at the dawning of space travel he commands the NCC-1701 (without a letter prefix). He has to blaze new trails and break in much new technology that we know comes later.  He is a diplomat, Military leader, explorer and you get to see the various transformations.  He’s much less perfect that other Star Trek captains and in his struggle against the Xindi he becomes almost desperate and even morally questionable, of course with the future of Earth on the line it doesn’t seem unjustified.

Johnny Rico – Starship Troopers Its not often do you get to see a hero rise up from cadet to a leader in a time span but by the end of the movie you know that Johnny Rico has become a true leader. Having endured losing his family on Earth, losing his Girl Friend, Johnny has a serious case of I want to kick some Bug Butt. He struggles as a new recruit but quickly climbs the ranks to become an officer. Another one of those get his hands dirty leaders!

Capt. Benjamin Sisko – Star Trek Deep Space Nine Captain Sisko was a different captain than Picard. The commanding officer of the station Deep Space Nine. One of the few African American captains portrayed, he discovers the Bajoran Wormhole and becomes the emissary of the prophets. Interestingly he has a extreme dislike of Picard due to a small issue with Picard being responsible for the death of his wife… Boy some people really know how to hold a grudge!

Lt. Jean Rasczak – Starship Troopers The Veteran, turned drill sergeant, turned active soldier.  How can you not like this guy.  I think him and Apone from Aliens would be a kick ass fighting force together. While Rico is taking the glory its Lt. Rasczak that takes names and kicks butts. Again you can’t go wrong with Michael Ironside. Just having him on the show gives a feeling of strength.

So there is the list. I’m sure there are quite a few others might feel were left out but there are enough here I’m sure to spawn some good conversation, even if it is just to trigger the old memory about an old sci-fi series.

Someone mentioned Lexx, I did watch it and thought about including either Stanley Tweedle, but he is probably not a great leader…I did think about Kai as he is a strong character…but he is dead so that makes kind of strange.

The Garage project

So this weekend my wife was away on a girls trip to Las Vegas. I decided that I wanted to utilize the time to get ahead on some projects and errands I needed to get done. So after kicking off a few of the more mundane tasks like the laundry, spackling a few walls to repair holes the kids made, mailing some bills, putting chemicals into the large cement Green pond out back we call the pool, getting all the dishes in the dishwasher cleaned, cleaning the upstairs bathroom, running to the store for a few groceries and a lottery ticket, hitting Sam’s club for more items….I decided that 106 degrees was a good temp to head to the garage and start a cleanup project. Things went pretty well to start, the large pile of boxes I had been keeping for use as eBay mailing boxes had basically consumed one whole garage stall. I probably had enough for what I needed and then some so I started there.

Quickly I realized that my strategy of just tossing them into the recycle container was not going to suffice when I noticed after the 5th box that I had already filled the container. Plan B would take much longer, breaking down each individual box and in some cases using a box cutter to cut the cardboard into smaller pieces. As I uncovered the mountain of boxes, it became obvious as the work bench began to appear from beneath the cardboard mountain, that there was all sorts of other cleanup of parts that had to take place beyond the box project. I ended up spending pretty much the whole weekend working on the garage project. The best thing I did was find my daughters dorm room refrigerator and quickly plugged it in and filled it with cold water and beer. It would be all filled with beer except for that nagging little kidney stone issue I have but that is another story! Anyways I think I ended up sweating out about 10 pounds of water but slowly the garage began to take shape.

With the lions share of boxes removed, the next step was to play a little game I learned from watching Sesame Street, picking out what things don’t belong. You know the song, “one of these things is not like the other, one of these things doesn’t belong”.  This game played out in determining what loose items on the bench were like other items. Screws, nails, brackets, batteries, and all sorts of assorted crap. What I found most helpful is that if you put items in a container, regardless of whether you sort them or not…they just seem much more organized. This idea killed two birds with one stone. I utilized various shoe boxes from the cardboard box pile and at the same time I got some organization to items (to deal with at a later time).

Finally able to see the floor I was able to get the compressor on and blast the dust and dirt and leaves from the floor. Wow it had been a while since I had seen the floor in this section of the garage.  It actually looked quite nice!  Feeling a big sense of accomplishment I should have stopped there….But the two mountain bikes that I had been moving around all weekend were in the way and I had finally cleared a large enough wall space that I determined would be a good location to get some wall mounts and hang the bikes out of the way…So off to the bike store to get a couple of hangers.

It seemed simple enough, either find a stud or use moly bolts to anchor the hanging rack to the wall. I was able to find the studs but their locations lacked a good use of space to be able to mount both bikes. No problem I have several sets of molys in one of those boxes that I just put away…if I could just find it. At last I did and we were in business. 90lbs moly bolts should be more than enough! Right? Instructions were simple enough. Just pound the moly into the wall then use the screw that came with it and attach your item to the wall. Well after carefully measuring the wall and finding the exact locations I wanted ( I even used a level so it looked straight),  I proceeded to install the molys. So Far so good. Next attach the mount to the wall.

My trial run on the workbench went marvelous the only problem is that it no way simulated the problem I would encounter in the actual implementation on the wall. I got the screws installed and it was time to put the plate over the screws that helps guide the tire. This is where everything went down hill fast…

Apparently the plate slides over these clips on the mount. Again on the work bench I had no issues. But on the wall different story due to a pretty tight clearance on the wall and due to a bend in the rack mount it would not go on easily. Instructions said to tap lightly with a mallet to get it to slide on…I did that but not much action. So I figure a hammer will work better. Same results. So now I think I have done something wrong. So not wanting to mar up the wall and cause extensive drywall damage, I carefully back the bolts out and inspect the whole assembly. Everything looks correct and again the plate slides right on the mount… back on the wall with it. Again the gentle tap from the mallet, no luck. A gentle tap from the hammer, no luck. A more aggressive tap from the hammer, no luck. A much more aggressive tap…and you know we have passed the line of where this is going to end well….A final smack with the hammer and it happens. The moly’s pull and rip the drywall a bit loosening them from the wall. The mount now hanging at a strange angle and will require removal.

I’m frustrated but not defeated. I carefully remove the mount from the wall and remove the moly’s from the wall. Get out the Spackle and patch the holes. I then mark a new set some inches away from the originals. I will have to repaint now for sure! This time I inspect the mount much more carefully and find that it has a slight bend in it that is not allowing the plate to slide on easily when mounted to the wall. I decide that I can fix this by bending it straight. It seems to work. I remount new molys and remount the newly bent rack. This time things go smoother. The plate slides on with the gentle mallet encouragement as suggested in the manual. TahDah! Just like it was planned…Now the moment of truth. I need to now hang the bike to get the position of where to put the next mount for the other bike. I lift it up and hook the tire in the rack. A bit tight but it seems to work good. I let the rest of the weight of the bike fall against the wall…and that is when it happens.

Both Moly’s tear out at once sending the bike, the mount, two large 2X2 inch chunks of drywall and a cloud of drywall dust to the floor…It was at this point I declared the garage project over and decided it was time to go inside. I dropped my tools where I stood and exited the garage. Maybe next weekend we will work on a different section of the garage!

…But what do I do with my Helmet

Well I came to a decision this weekend. It was much easier than I thought. I decided to sell the Motorcycle. Maybe it was the fact that I have had the same gas in the tank for a year, or that I have put less than 300 miles on it in that same time. But really I think it was just time to start on a new chapter that begins with cleaning the garage.

This is the third actual bike I have had over the last 15 years or so of riding. I love the feel of the wind rushing by, the sound of a throaty exhaust and the feeling of whacking open the throttle and hanging on for dear life as the rolling missile between my legs tries to unseat me. I think it has always been the raw speed that excited me. The ability to accelerate is like a drug. A dizzying high that can only be rivaled by a few other experiences for sheer adrineline rush!

Although I have been down twice on motorcycles, I have never really been afraid of crashing and thankfully in both of those events I wasn’t hurt. I thank fantastic advancements in protective equipment and my almost religious commitment to wear that gear even when it was 115 degrees outside. Riding without a helmet or a jacket really scares me. Getting hit by a piece or truck tread, various rocks, a swarm of bees, and one time a turtle dove that tried to dent my chest, has made it impossible for me to understand why anyone would go without a helmet. Of course there are other reasons and my Arai Edwards III model sports three of those reasons as it sports lovely deep jagged rock divots that absorbed the impact as my head met the pavement during one of crashes in Yellowstone Park.

But then again as my friend Bill Hanson can attest to, having a crash can have a life altering impact on you both physically and mentally as well. I always new and was told by the old timers that it wasn’t “IF” you were going to crash but a question of “WHEN”. Also knowing that most new motorcyclists have a major accident before their first 6 months of riding, I felt pretty good when I passed that time frame without a scratch. It was actually about 6 years before my first crash in beautiful Yellowstone. I mention this because it is probably the biggest thing I am asked about is the fear and danger of riding a bike and that I am crazy for doing it. And I do agree, you are playing percentages when you ride one. But that wasn’t the reason.

I would tell you that my motorcycle trips with my buddies all over western US have been some the the funnest, exciting and memorable things I have done in my life. It is not an experience you can have in a car or an RV either, its unique and it has a profound impact on your life. There is something about riding into a sleeply little town like a lakeview Oregon, peeling off the leathers, and heading to the local tavern / bar to have a beer and recount the days riding experience with good buddies. I even in a strange way liked the strange stardom you garner as a stranger riding into town. Going up to the bar and ordering drinks and getting a comment from the bartender “hey aren’t you the four guys that rode into town this evening?, with one you dressed like a power ranger?” You can only smile and say yes that was us on the 4 identical bikes and it was me in the white leathers that make me look like the Power Ranger”. It was almost in some way like a twisted western about the cowboys that had just ridden in from the dusty trail. The townsfolk weren’t sure if we were going to cause a problem or just pass through. But one thing was sure, we had made an impression and it kind of made you feel alive with the small town celebrity status.

No actually for me having turned 40, with a daughter in College and three more quickly on the way to heading there, it has become more a question of economics and lack of time that is driving this departure. Don’t read Mid life crisis though. Being a chronically insane collector all my life, My house and garage is filled with well all sorts of crap I collect. From hot wheel cars to, camaro parts, to comic books to baseball cards. Heck we even have a complete set of the lord of the rings figures collected from Burger King that we went to no less than 12 different locations trying to find every last piece and then had to go to Ebay to get the coveted Bilbo piece…Yes I am stupidly insane with collecting at times. So as I look back on the last 40 years I decided that those collections while fun to get, really don’t give much joy just sitting in a box in the closet or the garage…just hoping for that one time when someone is over and happens to ask the right question about a certain baseball player or certain lord of the rings kids meal toy (yeah like that happens a lot). It is the collecting process that I love.

So while I have not been collecting motorcycles, it has become an object very much like the Bilbo Baggins toy in the garage that is taking up space and not allowing me to get on to the next thing. What that next thing is….who knows? The important thing that I have learned to let go of things that are no longer being enjoyed or used. Being an 80 year old man with a bunch of things is not my idea of interesting, having the memories and the experiences is so much more valuable. Does this mean I will never have a motorcycle again. Probably not… but if it does, it doesn’t matter as I have gotten quite a lifetime of memories over the last 15 years that will not go away. So what can I go get now where I can still use my helmet…hmm drag racing has always seemed fun!

Wafflehouse breakfast-heaven

It had been awhile but on Monday, after enjoying a long weekend we decided to get up, jump on the motorcycle and hit Waffle House for breakfast.  We had not been to Waffle house for quite a while and the bike even longer.

I noticed the gas gauge was showing reserve on the tank that got me thinking it was almost a year since I had last gassed it up on a ride I took….I guess that tells me it is probably time to sell it.

Tabby and I donned our helmets and headed to our favorite Waffle House at Chandler and 48th, right next to our other favorite restaurant Hooters.  It was almost 11 and we had the choice of doing either but the smell of covered and smothered hash browns, eggs, toast and sweet cream waffles was too much to take.  We walked in and surprisingly a table was immediately open with no waiting. That is something that is rather unheard of at the Waffle House anytime earlier than noon. We sat down, dusted off a non sticky place for our helmets and got to ordering!

We ordered up two of the all american meals and had a feast.  For a little change I ordered the biscuits and gravy instead of the Waffle.  It was mighty tasty! Tabby unloaded her hash browns on my plate (mmm double stack hash browns). As always there are all sorts of entertaining people at the Waffle House.  Of course not quite as interesting as the wee hours of the morning but still colorful to say the least. Based on the fact that we just jumped out of bed as we were, we probably fit the profile of many of the folks seated around us.  No need for fancy clothes or makeup here!

Our server, a young man was a delight and we could tell he was just learning the job. He did fantastic even if his hollering out of the order wasn’t perfect. He noticed our helmets and mentioned that his goal was to get a bike. I told him it was good on the gas but not the safest mode of transportation around. He smiled and I knew he didn’t hear a word out of my mouth after good on gas….

After completely gorging ourselves (well at least I did) we finished off the OJ and coffee, threw down a healthy tip and mounted up on the bike to check out the used car tent sale going on at the AZ mills mall.  THAT was an experience probably better left for another blog post at another time… But regardless nothing would dampen our spirits that day after having our favorite breakfast we rode into the beautiful afternoon breeze, with full tummy’s and a big smile on our faces.

Thanks Mark for inspiring me to relate my waffle house love as well.

Shanes Rib Shack

After a few people had read my last post they said the thing I left out was a review on the food for Shane’s Rib Shack.  Since BBQ is one of my favorite foods it is only fitting that I give some comment on it in my oh so unofficial role as food reviewer.

First I must confess I have yet to sample the Ribs yet. I wasn’t really in a rib mood the day I was there so I opted for Big Dad Pork sandwich.  I was not disappointed. I found the meal to be quite good. The sandwich is on big thick Texas toast and is toasted to perfection. The chopped Pork was outstanding. It came with a light BBQ sauce but a big bottle was at the table to augment the sandwich to your liking. I like this feature. Too often you get a BBQ sandwich that is drenched in sauce and you can’t taste the meat or anything else.  I like the ability to add my own to flavor. The BBQ sauce was good enough that I put both the sauce and ketchup on my plate to dip the frys.

I did talk to a few people that ordered the ribs and they were pleased with them.  I continue to hound my daughter to bring some home to sample!!! hint hint hint!  So I can give a good a complete review.  Prices were not cheap but about medium.  I got my sandwich, side and drink for roughly 9 dollars. That is about how much I spend when I go across the street to Chipotle so I don’t think it is out of line for what you get.

I would recommend you stop in and try it out if you like BBQ, I don’t think you will be disappointed.

The Selfish Generation Eclipses the Me Generation

This weekend I had a bit of a boiling over point over an incident that happened. It has to do with something that I have been thinking about for a while and something that has been irritating me for even longer. It’s this nation of selfish people we have been breeding.

Everyone is out for themselves and they don’t care if they screw anyone else in the process. Its all about what do I get and there is absolutely no thought to what if any impact does my selfishness has on others…The incident happened this weekend at the grand opening of Shanes Rib Shack at Ray Rd. My daughter on break from ASU happened to get a job there and the grand opening was on Saturday. The first 100 people to the door would receive a free tee shirt (jersey) with a number identifying which customer you were through the door. The advantage of being one of the first 100 was that you got Free Ribs (or menu item you wanted), free drink and of course the free shirt.

My daughter had told me about the opening and suggested that I get there plenty early to get in line. I unfortunately had other tasks to get completed in the morning and didn’t manage to come by until about 10:30. I was there early but obviously not early enough based on the herd of people standing outside. As I pulled up I noticed that I could see people wearing the fabled Shane’s tee shirts with numbers on them and when I spied a guy guy in the crowd of people wearing number 93 standing outside I pretty much knew that number 100 was long gone. But regardless I was really there to support my Daughter in her new job and free meal or not I was going to check it out and try out the grub!

As I parked the motorcycle I noticed another car pulling in rather rapidly not far from me. It was a Lexus, (not that it matters what he drove) but I noticed after his rapid parking job out jumps a guy and his about 8 year old kid with him. They break into a sprint in the direction of the Rib Shack. Knowing fully well that the chances of them or me getting in on the free eats was smaller than possibility of a guy with a vasectomy impregnating someone while wearing a condom. It was this that made me chuckle as the Lexus guy and his kid sprinted down the parking lot dodging traffic.

I took my time, locking up my helmet on the bike and ensuring it wasn’t going to fall over on the asphalt in the already climbing Arizona temperature. I then strolled to the front of the establishment and it was somewhat chaotic. Because of the morning heat everyone was proceeding to stick to the areas of shade rather than trying to form some orderly snaking line much like the old days of camping out for Concert tickets…Ah what fun times those were…

Anyways It didn’t take long to find a group of people standing around a girl sporting a red Shane’s shirt with a clipboard. I noticed that there was somewhat of an orderly process by which she was trying to answer each persons questions and writing down names of people who were the first 100 visitors but somehow didn’t get their tee shirt or were not listed. Patiently everyone was waiting their turn to talk to the girl.

It was at this point I caught out of the corner of my eye a guy approaching. You know when you have the feeling that something is going to happen. I don’t know if it is body language or intent stare or what, but you know before it happens that some guy is about to be a jerk…

And that is when Lexus guy jumps in, pushing others out of the way so that he can get in front of the girl to get HIS question answered “I want my one of the first 100 visitors tee shirt” . Now, Had he paid attention to people in the crowd wearing shirts # 98, #99 and such, or listened to what the hostess was telling each person, or been focused on anything but himself he might have noticed that they had already handed out the shirts and were done with the first 100. It is at this point it finally registered a boiling point in me. Maybe it really wasn’t this guy in particular, maybe it has been something that has been brewing in me for a long time now but, I had finally reached that mark where I wasn’t going to just take it I was going to say something about it! Maybe it was also the fact that not only had he cut in front of me but also two elderly ladies in front of me who were currently talking with the girl that really set me off. It was at this point I blurted out even before my brain could process it “EXCUSE ME! but you need to wait your turn!”

Obviously he was quite taken aback by my exclamation. I’m sure I would have been to and to think about it that was my desired effect. But now my flood gate has been breeched and the slightest little retort by this guy was getting both barrels of my attitude brought to bear right on him and his son in tow. He physically stepped back and then muttered that he didn’t know there was any line. It was then that I let him know that all the people standing around the girl had been waiting longer than he had. I think it was at this point that I scared the Hostess a bit as she also took a step back and fumbled for words (not my desired effect). She quickly identified that they were complete with getting the first 100 visitors and that he could get a free tee shirt if he wanted but the free food promotion was filled. She referenced the list of people on the clipboard and quickly she added that she was only getting the names of the first 100 people taken down.

It was at this point I decided that it was better for me to walk away rather than continue with the urge that was boiling in me. Filtering back into a shady corner I continued to watch and listen to Lexus guy. When he finally got the understanding that he wasn’t getting any free food but was welcome to wait in line to buy food he walked off in a huff not to return. It was this action that made me shake my head, that the guy was just in it for what he could get free and if it wasn’t free he wasn’t wasting his time.

I stood there waiting for the first 100 people who were being called by number to enter. Funny thing was that there was a good number of people that took off and just apparently wanted the shirt, as when their number was called they were not around. After the 100 people had filed in I was about the 3rd person to place a regular order which I gladly paid for and took my number waiting to get my food. It was then that I saw my daughter, Red faced and breathing hard as she had just ran in for some water after being out directing street traffic into the grand opening.

I felt kind of good that she wasn’t around to see me lose my cool, but at the same time it is the core of what has been bothering me. It doesn’t matter where you go, whether it is a grand opening or a concert or a meet the teacher, I have noticed that at a statistically high number most people are selfish assholes only out to get what they want and screw anyone else.

Thinking about it this weekend I have come to the conclusion that we breed this as a society. Instead of manners and treating those around us with respect. We teach our children (much like Lexus guy) that you don’t have to wait in line or wait your turn, you just need to be aggressive and you will be rewarded. It is the old squeaky wheel syndrome. Do whatever it takes to get the irritation out of the way and that means grease the squeaky wheel first. The rest will go like lambs. And then as one of those Lambs you finally get fed up with always missing out on getting things you want because the asshole always gets his way at your expense. I have also noticed that this is what our kids are seeing. This is what you do when you don’t get your way…throw a tantrum or make a scene and in order to get what you want….and guess what we reward this. The real go getter is the one who wins the sales contests, he’s the guy that get the Wii when only 25 out of 200 people are going to get one at the store. So in the end there really is no down side for the aggressive asshole. Nobody wants to deal with them so they bend over backwards to make them happy at the expense of everyone else who follows the rules of edict or common politeness.

The problem is we continue to breed more and more of this character type and it becomes more darwin and natural selection at every business or event you go to. I guess I am just getting tired of it and may end up going the way of the do-do bird. But maybe hopefully I did have some impact in the world this weekend. I doubt it but I can hope.

WW1 Blog

I ran across this several months ago and I still think this is very cool. It is a blog site where this gentleman is posting letter written by his grandfather ( Harry Lamin) and sent home during WW1.  What is really cool is that it is 90 years to the day and each letter arrives and they are posted on the same day it would have been received As you read them you are along for the ride to see what this Harry’s fate is.  Will he make it home, will he be killed, you begin to await the next post like I’m sure his family did during the war.

Starting from the beginning as suggested, takes you first through who all the participants are. Then you can read along as each letter is received.  Gaps that happen correspond to gaps in time that letters were not received. Included are insightful explanations and very nice historic references like maps, period photos, and even a Battalion War Diary that documents the British troop movements so you can follow along with Harry’s letters from where he was at and what his battalion was doing.

The letters can be rather plain and somewhat redundant but then other letters are very descriptive and help paint the history of a place and a time very well.  Having not been in a war or separated from my family during a war, I have to imagine how hard it was for all those involved. Letters from home had to be a huge benefit. It is amazing that these were kept and I think this is a fantastic project.

WW1 Blog