Sooo…I dunno…a couple months ago or so I broke the kick stand spring bolt on my Valk…I hit some part or other flying off a couple cars that were enthusiastically wrecking out on NB 75…and I lost the spring as well as the broken bolt (typical)…got home with a bungee cord…

It’s the lowest point on the machine…breaking them is not uncommon…

Had a spare spring and bolt…replaced a couple days later.

Two weeks after that I hit a road gator and broke it again. Back to the bungee cord. Got the part (I was short a spring) and repaired the machine again Monday…and took it off again TODAY hitting of all things…a football! (came out of nowhere, ain’t goin anywhere ever again.)

So, to sum up, I’ve broken more of these things in the last 2000 miles than I have in 150,000 miles.

I’ll put another one on tomorrow (I ordered extras!)

Ride ‘em hard. Fix ‘em when they break

CUAgain,
Daniel Meyer

I dreamed last night…

The bureaucrats have won. Paperwork must be filed in advance for all aspects of life.

Gonna eat dinner Thursday? You needed to file form 34578-b in triplicate at least 4 days in advance. Be sure to attach supplementary form ROCE-1 if not eating the federally mandated “healthy” diet listed in pamphlet 666-1.

“Ah, Mr. Meyer, we see that you wrecked your motorcycle without filing the proper paperwork in advance. Please file a form 7562 with your nearest tax office and be sure and include a check for the late filing penalties. You won’t be allowed to proceed with repairs until the proper notifications have been completed. Please see instructions in book ECKER-234″

And so on. The purpose of the entire system was to raise money to perpetuate itself and in that quest, it had regulated every action in life. Sleep. Eat. Everything. Proper forms and fees had to be filed. God help you if you die without advance notice!

This, of course, spawned an entire class of workers…all “gainfully” employed pushing paperwork around. Filing, penalizing, mailing, processing. Producing nothing, helping no one, building nothing, they somehow managed to make it home at night feeling satisfied that they had accomplished something.

I woke up sweating, thankful it was just a dream.

I’m headed to work…right after I stop by the car tax office to get a $65 sticker to put on the license plate of my motorcycle, and after I hit the post office to drop off the state sales tax paperwork (again). Oh, and I need to stop by the inspection place to get the other sticker stuck on my bike too, but first I need to stop by the insurance company to get another copy of the paperwork that shows that I have paperwork that says that I have insurance. Oh, and I guess I need to see my accountant about my federal taxes…she’s saying that since I opened a small business it’s gonna take at least 40 hours work for me to get the paperwork together that she needs to start my return. She’s confident that I’ll get to deduct her costs from my return…as long as I file the correct paperwork.

Ah well. I guess I’ll get to work eventually. Not really a lot of point in going in though…the guy that approves the change paperwork is on vacation so we can’t do anything…

CUAgain,
Daniel Meyer
(form 385, advance notification of posting on a federally regulated blog is filed with the office of BS for this posting)

Y’all may recall this post where I indicated I may have hit a number of deer-type dear furry critters.

I jokingly mentioned in a conversation with one of my friends that in some circles I was an ace and may need to put the little stickers on my fender or something.

This particular friend knows me well and mentioned that if I did that, the 6 deer would not be accurate. What about all their suicidal brethren I’d encountered over the years? (thanks for the reminder James!)

So, in the interests of attempts at accuracy…this probably represents a couple hundred thousand miles of night riding…though some of the hits were in the daylight…

Note: Numbers and occasionally species are approximate and have not been verified by the IMMLFCSAA*

*Independent Motorcycle Mounted Little Furry Critter Slaughtering Association of America

As my friend Ron would say…air goes in and out, blood goes round and round. Life is good.

That’s 6. How many do I get?

I took the truck home tonight.

CUAgain,
Daniel Meyer

Got an adventurer in your life? Are you one? Life Is a Road books make great gifts!

They are also a great therapeutic aide for you riders suffering from “PMS” (Parked Motorcycle Syndrome) caused by the winter weather.

Click here to order direct from me. You can also find them at any online book retailer if you prefer.

CUAgain,
Daniel Meyer

I don’t often do this…I usually find large businesses to be so mis-managed and stuck on un-changeable procedures (rather than focused on results) that they are not worth dealing with. It has gotten so bad lately that it has become it’s own stereotype…

Occasionally there are exceptions…and as I will freely gripe about bad customer service…I think I must talk about good service as well…

An open letter to the Paris, Texas Walmart:

Outstanding service. Way above/beyond. Paris, Texas store, Sunday evening, 12/11/11, Tire/automotive section.

My Mom was visiting from out of town and we ran some errands in her car. Miles from home we found we had serious tire issues.

We limped in with two seriously bad tires (one shredding) literally 5 minutes before close of the auto section. The young man running the bays said, “Sure! Come on in! We’ll take care of it.” No grumbling. No griping. Genuinely interested in making sure we got what we needed.

He took ownership and followed through. They had to hunt down the tires (only two left, an odd size). They are also difficult to mount (wide/low profile performance tire) and they took care of that handily.

The other guy and lady running the inside tire/battery section were also as helpful and all of them were extremely competent. They made sure we got billed correctly, got the discounts/sales that were going on, etc. All of them were more interested in making sure we got what we needed than they were getting closed.

All went WAY overboard to make sure we got taken care of. All in all they were there well over an hour after closing taking care of my Mom’s car.

Seldom do you find that level of service anymore, especially at a large place. We’d have been in a situation without them. It is not the norm in my experience. The folks in your Paris, Texas automotive/tire section are outstanding.

CUAgain,
Daniel Meyer
Author. Adventurer. Electrician.

This is an important box.

It’s been a tough year for many…and this box is empty.

I could use some help filling it up.

This box is located at
The Cupola
On the Historic Clarksville Square
131 North Locust Street
Clarksville, Texas 75426

Hours:
Thursday 10am – 4pm
Friday 10am – 4pm
Saturday 10am – 4pm

New, unwrapped toys only.

If this box fills up that’s no problem at all. There’s a whole slew of dedicated folks that will make room and find the right place for the stuff that goes in it.

If you can’t make it to this particular box, find one near you and help fill it. There’s lots of empty ones this year.

If you can’t find one near you, you can make a contribution to Toys for tots on their website here: www.toysfortots.org/donate/

CUAgain,
Daniel Meyer