Motorcycle Adventure!

Yes, it has been a while.

I lost my job last November. Wasn't too much of a loss though as things had gotten pretty rough there and I was losing some sleep over it.

In March, feeling restless, I decided to take a great adventure and ride my motorcycle to Los Angeles to visit my Nephew. I had just broken down and gotten an iPhone and felt the time was right.

After a few days of preparation, I was ready. Rode the to cycle shop and got new tires and a lighter socket to plug my GPS and iPhone into. I left, bright and early and rode west on Hwy 290. After Fredericksburg I had to switch to my reserve gas tank as there was nothing for a little while. Finally found a gas station and filled up. Soon I got onto I-10 where the speed limit was 80 MPH. I kept it mostly to 70-75 and took it easy.

Amazing how little there is in West Texas. I don't have very good range and was getting pretty nervous about finding gas at one point when I got off the highway with 108 miles on my trip odometer (I usually fill up at or before 100 miles). The gas station was closed and I really got scared, but there was an open one on the other side of the highway (and nothing else for as far as I could see). The lady there told me the next gas, going west, was 75 miles away. From that point on, I didn't take any chances and stopped every 50 miles or so, unless it was clear I was coming up on something.

After a pretty good day of riding I made it to Van Horn Texas. Not much of a town. The Day's Inn I had looked up online appeared to be a dump, as did quite a few of the other Motels. I stopped at a Holiday Inn Express, which was $80. The Hampton Inn was $100. I finally settled on a Ramada Inn Express for $59 with breakfast. I unpacked the bike and after asking at the front desk, I went to a little steak house where I had a decent steak dinner.

In the morning a waffle, shaped like Texas was breakfast. The room had been quiet and comfortable. I packed the bike and headed West. Stopped on the outside of El Paso for a bite and gas. This was the first "civilization" I had seen since Fredericksburg.

Stopped at the first "Welcome" rest area in New Mexico. Had never been in NM before. There was a van full of raggedy, dirty hippy kids. Sort of reminded me of the "Manson Family". When I came out of the bathroom, there were two cop cars there. Don't know what was going on, but as I was getting ready to leave, the cop told me to get out of their way. I told him I was but that it took a minute. As I was leaving he apologized to me but said they might need to get EMTs in there. It wasn't a "feel-good" moment.

Shortly afterwards, on I-10, the whole highway was routed into a Homeland Security Checkpoint where "agents" with a dog looked at each vehicle. I was eventually just waved through but didn't like it, nor the 10 minute delay. Fucking Police State!

This part of New Mexico was ugly. Very windy too. It cooled off and at one point I took my iPod earphones out and put in good ear plugs to quiet down the ride. Fortunately there were plenty of gas stations and a bit more civilization.

I rode all day and made it to Arizona, where it got less windy and a bit prettier, especially one area with some beautiful rock formations. I stopped in Benson AZ at a McDonald's and had a smoothie. When I went back to the bike, I it wouldn't start and it was apparent the battery was dead. My GPS had died earlier and I was perplexed.

I went back into McDonald's. Looked up motorcycle repair on my iPhone and called a few places. Found a place in Tucson that was open until 6 and would look at it. It was about 4. I was about 60 miles away. Although I could have called AAA, I decided I could get the bike there quicker if I could get it started. I asked another biker, but he didn't have cables. A woman did and he held the cable to the battery terminal after I unscrewed the cover. The bike started and I thanked them profusely.

I got on the road and realized that it would be very close as to whether I'd make it to Tucson with the gas I had. So I decided I'd need to get gas on the way. I thought as I rode. I realized the battery wasn't charging as my light wasn't working. So I knew I had to keep the bike running.

Finally I stopped for gas and had to take the bags off and get my hidden spare key off the bike. With it running, I gassed up and then entered the address of the bike shop onto the GPS on the iPhone. With that velcroed to the handlebars I was able to follow it and get the bike to the shop pretty easily.

Called my friend Dick, who picked me up at the shop after I left the bike there with my fingers crossed. He had a nice little house with cats and a very comfortable guest room. He didn't have internet though as he works at a library and used it there. We had a nice dinner and got a good nights sleep.

He worked on Friday so I used the iPhone's Wi-Fi finder to direct me to another McDonald's not too far away. I took his laptop and upgraded his Windows Vista as well as put some software on it. I looked at jobs and spend most of the morning there. Finally walked back to his place.

The cycle shop called and after replacing the battery and getting the bike up to operating temperature they determined that the voltage rectifier had been over charging and had burned up the battery. They agreed to Next-Day-Saturday-Delivery the part, which cost an extra $70 for me.

We went over to a friend of Dick's and had a very nice meditation visit with dinner. Very pleasant. On Saturday we took his laptop and spent a few hours at the library upgrading Vista completely. Then we went to Home Depot and got a drill bit that allowed me to hook up his VCR by drilling a hole to allow the plug access through his entertainment center.

I picked up my bike and was thrilled that they had fixed it so quickly. We had a nice dinner at a Chinese Buffet for dinner.

I got up early on Sunday and said goodbye. Headed back the exact way I had come, East on I-10 now. The ride was OK. Same deal in S. New Mexico, very windy. After El Paso I went through another Homeland Security Checkpoint. This time when I pulled up to the "agent" he just stared at me. After a few moments I started to ease forward. "Where are you going?" he barked. "Why are you trying to get away?" he asked. I said that I wasn't trying to get away. He asked if I was a US Citizen and I said I was. He asked where I had been born and I told him NYC. He stared for a few more moments and then said I could go. Glad I kept quiet as much as I was tempted to argue with him. But who wanted to unpack and then pack up again?

Made it to Van Horn with no problems. The bike was riding well, although the GPS wasn't working (turned out that the cord wasn't any good) but it didn't matter as I knew my way home. I got the same room in the same Ramada Inn Express. Went to the other restaurant in town this time, a pretty good Mexican joint. Talked with a guy riding a Harley out West from S. Carolina while I ate.

Got a good night's sleep and set out early. This time I stopped for gas frequently and didn't have any problems. It got a bit cool as I got closer to home, but I took my time and rode pretty calmly. Got home about 4 or so and it felt good to be home. All in all a nice ride, lucky with the bike and no rain either.

A few weeks later I found a job. Not exactly what I was looking for, and through an agency. I interviewed with the production manager of Capital Printing. He was a nice guy, but it seemed like he was looking for someone who really know bulk mailing which I told him I didn't. The agency was pretty low-level too. Surprisingly I got a call the next day from the production manager asking me to come in and talk to the owner.

The owner was great. Didn't really interview me, just talked to see who I was. At the end, after a pretty good conversation, he asked if I liked technology. Well we got to talking about iPhones and I had a pretty good feeling that they would offer me the job after that.

The following day they called again. I went in and we finalized it. I had to take the job with the agency for the first 90 days. No benefits for that time, but if it worked out, it'd be OK money and benefits after the 90 days. I took it. The agency wanted me to come in on Friday afternoon at 4:00 but I made him meet me there on Sunday afternoon.

Started on Monday. Not much to do. They installed the Videojet addressing/tabbing machine on Tuesday and spent a little time training me. The rest of the first week I just played with it and didn't have much else to do. Hopefully I can get up to Lubbock and train with our Sister company there soon.

Yesterday I signed for what I hope is my last unemployment check. Life is good!