The miles on my motorcycle and the hits on my blog are about the same number.
Is that weird? I think so.
Anyway, I'm getting a new jacket on Saturday. WHOO HOO!
Bike night last night was pretty cool. Jessica went, was a good sport, and (to my delight) wants to go again! Yay! Plus, people ripped on me, which actually makes me happy. People rip on people they like. It wasn't mean, it was fun. You know how that goes.
I really enjoy getting to know these people because I don't really know anyone in Moscow anymore and I've been getting bored and lonely. No offense to my wife, but you have to have more people to talk to than 1 person. It's really nice to get to know other people, and a good chunk of them are near my own age.
Also, I've decided that I'm going fishing on Sunday, out to Mann Lake, whether anyone goes with me or not. Bucky might want to go, and Jessica might want to go too....which means that SOMEONE (Bucky) will have to ride bitch! Anyway, I want to go out and see if I can get into some cats. Maybe, maybe not, but it's fishing!
I've been feeling MUCH better this weekend than I have since I crashed my bike.
My ribs don't hurt, my arm is almost back to 100%, and my back is getting back in service too.
Oh, I don't think I mentioned this, but on Wednesday, my back decided I didn't need to be at work anymore. It went kaput, and I laid on the couch all day. Thursday, I was hurting, and Friday, I was too, but yesterday and today were pretty good.
So, I helped my wife get the lawn mower going, and then watered the lawn. We rented a movie, and spent some time together yesterday. It was very nice.
Today, we went out to Mann Lake. It was alright, my wife caught 2 trout, I didn't catch ANYTHING. But for some reason, I decided we didn't want to take the boat. Really, my reasoning was that if we were just going down for a couple hours, there was no reason for the boat. Yeah, bad idea, next time, we take the boat. Hell, why do I even have it? Next time, I'm taking it, no question.
It looks like a catfish pond, the water is the right color, and I just want to know where to go to catch them on there. But, the trout we caught look good, and I want to go back.
Next time.........next time, I'm taking the boat no matter where we go (as long as the water is still).
Oh well, tomorrow and Tuesday, it looks like I'll be able to ride my bike to work and back. Wednesday, well, that looks iffy, and so does the rest of the week. I'll see as it gets closer, but it's supposed to rain.
Last thing: bike night was pretty cool. Not too many people showed up, some were in Pullman. But it was good, the people were nice, and the beer was good too. I ordered a pitcher, intending to share, apparently, so did everyone else. So, I got a ride home from my wife, and had to leave my bike there, which I got in the morning.
Ok, now you are all caught up in the life of Jeff, and I'm going to quit the blogging for now and go find me something to munch on and drink.
So, we lost some testers....it's sad. Some of them were really helpful (at least to me), but they were temps...
I saw 3 tom turkeys today. Not sure about the first one, but the 2nd two had good 6"-8" beards on them, which means they would have been legal birds...if I wasn't on the road....and the birds weren't on private land.
This weekend, I'm going to try to relax, but my wife won't let me. She thinks we need to be busy every minute, so....that's that.
I'm now officially on anti-biotics for an infection in my toe. It's pretty bad. I kept thinking it would get better, but it's not. My big toe is ingrown, and it sucks. Once the anti-botics and foot soaking kills the infection, I get to go in and have a real quick "operation" on it. Basically, they are going to in and numb my toe, then cut a strip out of my toenail. That will let the cut heal caused by my toenail, and it grows back in after a while. If that doesn't fix it, they go in and go straight to the bone and cut out the root of the nail so that part never grows back. It's more "major" and hurts a bunch more. The doc says the worst part of what I get is the numbing shots, 3 of them, in my toe.
My ribs, he said, weren't broken, but instead, "seperated." Which means that instead of fracturing, my cartilige that holds the ribs in place is torn. So, it's not a fracture, more of a tear. But, the healing is the same. Take Advil, and go on with life.
So, I'm sitting here, soaking my foot, wondering how I'm going to go turkey hunting this spring. With my foot and my ribs and everything, it's going to be dumb. But, turkey hunting is generally sitting, so I can walk out, sit, and call, maybe shoot, maybe not. But, I'll have my pistol for the walk out if I see any squirrels! I've got my rifle if I see any coyotes while at work, and I've got the shotgun for the turkeys. So...I'm armed to the TEETH when I drive now. HAHA.
My bike is supposed to be done on Friday, but they won't be open on Saturday, so I'll probably run over there Monday afternoon with my wife and get the price on my helmet, buy a new one and a pair of gloves. Then, I'll head to the body shop, have them take pics of my gloves, jacket, and helmet, and ride on home. I'm hoping they'll keep their word and let me keep my jacket, that way I'll be protected on the way home (unless I land on the same shoulder).
My wife is just about home, so I'm going to go now, and dry my foot off, and generally go about my night.
my cousin's wedding and the rest of the past couple days
...was pretty cool. He married a girl from Junction City/Harrisburg, OR. Which meant a bunch of miles where I wasn't legally allowed to gas myself up. I hate that. You can't gas up unless you find a place that's open.
But, the wedding was really nice, and the reception was a total blast. His bride is really nice, and she put up with our family!
Also, there was 3 guys that were over 6'6" there, which was pretty crazy. My uncles Mike and Ron, and this guy who is dating a woman from Willowcreek. Between them, there was at least 1000 pounds of dude. THAT'S A LOT.
Grandma Barb came out, and she loved the wedding and reception. She's not quite back to her old self, but she's doing a lot better, and she was able to sit and chat with people for a couple hours. It was really good, she enjoyed it, and so did everyone else.
My wife, Jessica, is doing chemistry, so I'm about done to go help her.
I headed down to A&W around 10:30, gassed up and waited for like 5 minutes. 2 other guys showed up and we headed down to the top of Spiral. Just before we got there, I looked in my mirror and saw coming down the entrance to the highway was 2 columns of bikes. It looked immense. A total of 17 bikes were there, and it was the biggest group I've ever been with, and I'm sure the same was true for most of the people there.
I tried to get as close to the back as I could, because I knew I was slow, but I didn't realize it would save me from a ticket! On the way down, 4 guys got stopped, and one of them got a ticket.
We headed to Asotin, with about 3 wrong turns, and a little help from a guy in a pickup, we made it and headed out toward Rattlesnake.
I made it a mile out of town before I took a turn too wide at 55, and hit a patch of gravel. I went down like a sack of bricks, layed my bike sideways, and kept going. I landed on my shoulder and hip, and rolled. I must have pivoted over my head, because it didn't seem like my head was moving, but it scratched my helmet up a bit on the back. My feet though, came straight up and over, I think. Anyway, I rag-dolled pretty good for a little bit, and then I got up and said the f-word a lot.
Some guys behind me, and one ahead of me stopped and helped me get off the road with my bike. And by "help" I mean, they handed me a band-aid for my thumb (the only bleeding point), and pulled my bike off the road, started it, and gave it a once over.
They asked me what I wanted to do, I said I'd just head home. I was in shock for a little while. That wasn't any fun. Then, I snapped out of it and started cracking jokes. I was REALLY shook up pretty bad. One guy said I had "street cred" now. I laughed, and said "even though I drive the smallest bike ever?"
Kids, let this be a lesson to you. If you don't wear a helmet, you might die. My helmet was scratched up. If I wasn't wearing it, my head would either be splattered or at least scraped up REALLY bad. Also, if you are going to be riding faster than in town speeds: WEAR LEATHERS TOO. Wear something that will protect, you, and textile won't do it. My leather got some gouges, and it is good leather.
I went down to the park in the town we gassed up in, and I walked across the street to the gas station for advil and ice. I iced my arm for a while and then tried to ride home. I couldn't work my clutch, so I called my friends to come pick me up and my bike. We loaded my bike into his pickup and took off for home.
I then followed them out to their place in Troy for some Easter dinner and a fire. It was then that I really realized how lucky I was that my arm hurts, my back and chest hurt, and I've got some bruises. There was a guy there who was paralyzed from a bike accident. He was in a wheel chair.
I'm lucky. My bike is still rideable. I'm in one piece. I hurt, but pain is temporary.
Anyway, I'm still kinda shook up.
Have a good night. I'm going to sign off and clean myself up and see if I can get to feeling better.
Happy Easter, Fishing Report, and Motorycle Pre-Trip Report
Easter: Happy Easter to all. Today, we celebrate Jesus rising from the dead by hiding eggs. I'm sure it makes sense, but it gives people a way to get kids together and have fun in a family setting, which is always good.
I'm not really religious anymore, so I'm going to say this one last thing: Happy Easter to you and yours, if you can't be with family, find some friends, if you can't find friends either, go make some!
Fishing: My boat works BEAUTIFULLY. The battery holds up really well, and the motors can propel me at a stunning 3 mph. Not fast, but fast enough to cruise around Spring Valley. The oars are pretty easy to use, and it's a pretty stable boat for standing and moving around in. I'd bet that more weight in the boat would actually help it out, so maybe next time I'll take someone with me.
I got one fish to play with my bobber for a little while, and then finally take the hook. I took him home and ate him last night. It was pretty good, kinda soft, but pretty good.
Pre-Trip Report: I looked on Google maps. I was worried about running out of gas, but now, I'm not so worried. It's only going to be about 40 miles past Lewiston. Then, 40 miles back. Pair that with the 30 miles to Lewiston, and that's only 110 miles. I could probably make it back to Moscow if I really decided to. I'd rather stop and get gas once we get back into Lewiston just to make sure though.
Oh, Last Night: I called up my buddy Cam and he said "(garble garble)....frisbee....(garble)....BBQ....(garble)...come on over". So, I instantly cleaned myself up and headed out to Cam's house. We had a couple beers. Once I got there, I instantly through my fish on the grill (that's where I ate it). I talked to Cam's room mate, about 8 of us threw a football around, one guy was setting lighter fluid fires in the grass, and then we went to go play frisbee golf. We played a couple holes, and then we headed back because it was cold and windy. We watched some youtube videos, talked, and then the party died around 10. I came home and threw a whole pork sirloin in the crock pot and had another beer and went to bed.
So, there's what's going on in my world this weekend.
Instead of riding today, I'm fishing. Mostly, I'm testing my boat out, but I'm fishing too. If you all want to come, come out to Spring Valley and find me, and yell or something. I'm on the ugliest boat ever!
So, I left for work early, so I left from work early.
I took off south from Deary, and headed down into Kendrick. I found a nice grade that was hella fun to ride, until I got behind 2 trucks. Big, full, semi trucks. I turned the engine off "to save gas" but mostly to see if I could still gain speed with no engine on. Yeah, I turned the engine off and coasted at 35, which was eeirly soothing and quiet (except for the semi ahead). Once I got around those trucks, I got back on the stick and kept heading south. It was a heck of a ride.
Kendrick is a small town between a hillside and a small river, so the only way it will ever grow is lengthwise. It's a beautiful town, unspoiled, and not gross like some middle of no-where shit holes.
Julietta is not rememberable....it's just too small.
I headed straight to the Harley dealership and drooled for a few minutes. I then checked my phone for the time, and realized that I still didn't know exactly where I was going. So, a few minutes later, I was on my way to find some goodness.
I met some guys at the bottom of Spiral Highway. A sport bike and a SUPER hot rodded BMW car, and my little 250. What a joke, right? Well, they were nice. The guys were really nice guys, and the 2 guys in the BMW were snapping pics of the car and the other guys bike. I really doubt my bike made it into any of the pics. But the guys were fun to talk to.
We rode up from the bottom of Spiral all the way to the top. It was a good ride, with some WICKED turns, I followed the bike as much as I could, but I couldn't. My nerves were part of the problem, my bike was the rest of the problem.
We rode back down a ways and I watched him take a corner pretty fast. I took some video while his friends were taking pictures, competing to see who got the best pics. He was going pretty fast, and the corner was pretty sharp. I kindly declined my turn to take a few rounds. I like my skin!
Anyway, I'm definitely riding on Easter Sunday with those guys as far as I can. It should be a complete blast.
Lots of people out on bikes today. How can you not? SHIT, it was nice today.
I finally finished my patching, we can now patch our maps. We just need to figure out how to get the artist up and running, so we can patch in walls and such.
I'm REALLY stoked. The best part is the birthday cake that I used as a test case. It's a big, 3 layer cake, and it's flying in the sky, and it's textured like a stone wall, which makes it really goofy looking too.
I have the code all ready and setup to go. I just need to get some real test cases and get them all put into the patch and send it out! I'm friggin stoked about it.
Also, I'm going to go ride Spiral with a guy I hooked up with on the pnwriders forum tomorrow after work. It should be fun.
So, it's been a good week, and I'm really, really excited about riding and fishing this weekend. My wife will be gone, so I'll be playing!
Anyone in Moscow that wants to hook up and hang out, let me know either by myspace or phone or email or IM, whatever.
I AM going fishing this weekend. And, since the weather is supposed to be nice, I'll probably end up going to ride Spiral if I can find a couple hours that aren't fishing. So, Spring Valley for fishing on either Saturday or Sunday, and the other day will be motorcycle riding, and maybe more fishing, maybe some pistol shooting. My wife will be gone, so I can do what I want, when I want.
WHO'S WITH ME?
I noticed last spring that the weather would be nice during the week, but crappy during the weekend, and this spring was having similar problems until I saw the weather reports for this coming weekend. I might be exaggerating about last spring, but it sure didn't feel like it. It always seemed like the weather would be nice and warm, sunny, and all that during the weekdays, but the weekends would be cold, windy, cloudy, and rainy. This spring was shaping up to be similar, but this weekend is breaking the mold, and causing me to have faith that one day soon, it will be warm enough for shorts, catfishing, and crawdadding!
So, to switch topics, what ever happened to rock and roll? Are there still bands out there that are playing good, old fashioned rock? When's the last time you heard a new band come out that played good, solid, rock? I'm talking no eye-liner, no whining, heavy rock. Some bands that I'd say play good solid rock from recent times are Nickelback, Saliva, Disturbed, Staind, Velvet Revolver. MTV has bands like My Chemical Romance, and AFI, and the Killers and whiney emo shit as their top rock bands. If that's rock, I'm glad I listen to country and NPR and rap a whole bunch recently. I listen to some classic rock, but fuck all that other shit.
I guess that's enough pissed-off-ness for today. I'm really excited about going fishing and riding and shooting this weekend. I may try to hang out with some of my buddies too. I know Bucky wanted to try fishing again, but without falling in the water, but I'm going to make whoever goes with me bring a change of clothes so that shit doesn't stop me from fishing again. That sucked.
So, I think I'm going to go shower now and get ready for work and life in general. Work has been great recently, I'm on a really neat project where I get to do things that we can't do. I've decided that my resume will be mostly DLC and Patching, since that's where I've spent most of my time next time I have to make a job change. Of course, if I end up at Zipper, I might not have to do my resume. There are really 2 options there. I'll either have to apply for a job, or they'll offer me one like they did to Josh. One way, I'd have to do a resume, the other, I don't think so.
Anyway, for reals this time, I'm out. I've got to get ready to for work.
It's kinda chilly and I'm cold. I want to warm up. My wife promised me some hot cocoa, but I haven't seen it. What I really need is an old snuggly dog or 3 to come and keep me warm. Or maybe just something warm to drink (or something that I can drink to make me warm).
I took the long way home, smoked a cigar, and enjoyed driving slow.
If my wife leaves this weekend, I'm going fishing A LOT. That's all there is to it. Yeah, so there you go.
I packed up my boat, hitched it up, and pulled it to Rosaurs. There, I met up with Bucky, and we headed out to Spring Valley.
We started to back the boat into the water, I was driving, and Bucky was walking along the dock, ready to hold the line when I pulled the trailer out. One bad step, and his leg went between pieces of dock, and we were headed back home! The water was too cold, the sun wasn't out, and the wind was blowing. Because he was wet, and getting cold, we headed home.
We are going next weekend, I guess....
My wife might be gone next weekend too, gone home to attend a bridal shower, I might just go fishing, whether I have anyone to go with or not.
I'm just a guy that spends a lot of time on the internet. Look for me on this, and PNWRiders A LOT!
When I'm not on the internet, I'm riding my motorcycle, or out having adventures with my wife or friends.
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