Dream Job?

What would your dream job be? I am not talking about the easy one's like guarding Fort Knox and having the keys, or being Kato Kaylin. I am talking about the dream jobs that are really jobs. I liked the style of the list's Rob Gordon (John Cusack) did in "High Fidelity", so here goes.

1. Jaime on the show Mythbuster's TV show on Discovery channel from 2005-2007. He gets paid to debunk or prove true a vast array of myths and rumors. And sure they have noble intentions that they try to potray to the audience, but it really is about doing all the things that you dreamed about as a kid, but did not have the guts or the means to perpatrate. Blowing up cement trucks, driving fast cars trying to outrun photo radar, having sword battles, shooting frozen chickens at airplanes. AND getting paid for it.
2. Dennis Conner America's Cup Sailing captain from 1980 thru 1987. From the high of defending the America's cup in 1980 to being the first US captain to loose it in 1983 to the Aussie's to winning it back in 1987 against the Aussie's, Dennis was part of a rollercoaster drama that was a huge story to to me when I was in highschool and we had a Hobie Cat sailboat and spent a lot of weekends on the water.
3. Dick Francis mystery writer. Starting off as a jockey in England to being a great storyteller and prolific mystery writer, his life has to have been a fascinating journey. A horse is a fascinating animal to begin with, and to spend your life riding, loving , appreciating, and writing about them is a true gift.
4. Zach Braff 2003-2004. Writer, director, star of "Garden State". It may not be "Gone With the Wind" but it is a good movie and he was the driving force behind it. To be able to write the script, put yourself in the lead roll and then be able to cast Natalie Portman as the female lead and write in extra smooching scene's and then be able to reshoot the smooching scene's because you are the director has to be pretty cool. And it was a really good movie.
5. Sacha White - Vanilla Cycles. Maker of custom bicycles in Seattle, WA. I am fascinated by someone who is a perfectionist with their craft and to be able to start with tubing, lugs, and a welder and be able to turn out some of the most beatiful, graceful, gorgeous looking bicycles is a talent.

The one thing that all these people have in common is a passion for what they do. They may not be saving the world, or curing cancer, but they have a something that they love to do and share with the world around them and as an added bonus it puts bread on the table and booze in the blender. What is your passion and are you sharing it with the world around you?

Three-fer Thanksgiving

MMMMMM Thanksgiving. Gravy and stuffing and rolls and turkey. Yes, I have that in the correct order. And if you disagree you need to show up next year and taste test my throwdown and tell me what you think. Rode to the parents on the Silver Sled after staying with Clark and Suzy at the Albany Bed and Breakfast. Got in late Wednesday and Thursday AM got up early to make a quick trip to Walmart for a couple last minute ingredients for the stuffing. The chopping and cooking started at 7am sharp, Johnsonville sausage, bacon chunks, garlic, onions, carrots, celery, apples, and a heap of stale french bread and 7 grain bread chunks. Mix it all up in a bowl with some turkey stock from boiling the innards, a little heavy cream and some chicken stock from concentrate. wrapped up a pile of the stuffing and put it in some cheesecloth and gave it a 5 minute microwave kickstart and then stuffed it in the bird, put half of the rest in a backing dish and the last lot of it scooped out into a muffin tin. Three types of cooked stuffing, check! Rubbed the bird down with olive oil and butter then salt and pepper. Threw it in at 475 to brown off the outside quick and then cranked it down to 350 for the duration. Mom had brined the bird the day before so there was a lot of juicy juice action going on. Pulled it out at 168 degrees and put the bird on the dish wrapped in foil to let it settle down, and then I got busy with the drippings. Due to the brining and the moist stuffing there was a lot of liquid and it was a deep maroon color, very good looking. Put it on the stovetop and scrapped all the good stuff and then added some water and a little more chicken stock for a little more volume. Made up a blonde batch of roux and started thickening it up. Did not have to add any salt and the only other kick was a "splash" of brandy half way thru. Ended up with about a gallon plus a little of the best gravy I have mixed up. About then the guests showed up and we had the green beans , mashed potatoes, baked sweet potato casserole, rolls and carved turkey on for the feast. All very tasty and it was good to have the family over that we did. Grandma was over from the nursing home thanks to the Angels on Wheels van service and the Orlando group had a safe trip over. After the main course we had a plethora of pies including pumpkin, mince meat, and a new one from Lisa that was a bourbon chocolate pecan pie that was off the hook. Overall a very nice day from start to finish especially since I cooked and that got me off the hook for dish patrol afterwards.

Friday I was back in Sebring and went into work for a little while and then had lunch with the supervisor and a cheeseburger and a couple beers and then a righteous 2 hour nap. Cleaned house and was thinking all night that it was Sunday and there was work coming the next day. Thankfully that was a wrong thought.

Saturday AM I got up around 7am and fired up the computer and asked it where I should go for a ride. Firth thought was a bicycle ride with the local group and lord knows I need a little bicycle action, but then I hit the CFLRiders website and there was a posting for a west Orlando group ride at 9:30 from the Ocoee area. So I did a Batman quick shower and change and was on the bike and out the door in 27 minutes. Filled the tank in Avon Park and was up in Ocoee at the meet point with 10 minutes to spare. This is the first time I had ridden with a motorcycle group, but I have done a lot of time in bicycle packs, so I figured I would hang in near the back and chill and see what the deal was. 6 other riders showed up and we all grabbed a quick bite at the Hardee's. NO we did not get the monster Country Breakfast Burrito. UGH1!!!! We all mounted up and gassed up and we spent the next 2.5 hours motoring around the west Orlando-Clermont area. It was great riding, no incidents and no tickets. The only little downer was that when I was a wee lad and worked at Disney in the late 80's early 90's I used to drive a lot of these roads and they were a lot more rural and a lot less crowded back then. Now they are slowly becoming urban sprawl, but fortunately there are a lot of undeveloped area's left, you just have to know which way to go. So we had a good ride with some great people. Pointed the bike south around 1pm and while I was cruising home I was getting H U N G R Y. I cruised down Alt 27 and when I came thru Frostproof I stopped at the Cool Treats Ice Cream and More shop. I have driven past this place a hundred times and never had the opportunity to stop in. Well you can add it to the list of revelations and places to visit. The cheeseburger was amazingly good, the fries were fresh and hot, and the chocolate shake was Breyers absolute hand dipped best. Got home with a tally of almost 310 miles for the day and still had time to fit in a power nap while "watching" err sleeping thru Spidey Man 3.

So Thanks for family, thanks for friends, thanks for turkeys that give us good gravy, thanks for our health and thanks for beautiful days and 4 day weekends.

Mel's Diner serves it up...

Woke up at 6am for some unknown reason and since it was Sunday decided to roll out and go for a ride. First I had to unload the motorcycle from the bed of the pickup truck. I finally have both vehicles located in the same city. This took a little more work than I thought. The pickup had been parked at dad's house for the last 4 weeks almost, and in those 4 weeks the farthest it moved was from one side of the driveway to the other. Which means when it came time to start it, the battery was dead. And not just weak and tired, but totally toasted. Not even a click or weak buzz, but to steal a phrase from Bones on Enterprise "he's DEAD Jim!!!". So a trip to the auto store and $80 later we are cranked and rolling. Back to this morning, I unloaded the bike, parked the truck and hopped on the road. Filled up the gas tank and pointed the bike west. It was a little cool this morning and I had to hunker down behind the windscreen for a little protection, but after 30 minutes the sun took hold and started to work its magic. I made my was over to Bradenton and then across to Anna Marie Island. Headed south and curved around to the downtown Sarasota area. Out on the island there were a TON of bicyclist out and they were not having a good morning of it. There was a huge wind out today straight from the east and it was gusting and blowing hard, which means on the north south route they were riding there was no hope of a tailwind on any part of their ride. The whole time I was keeping an eye peeled for a breakfast spot. My stomach was getting grumpy and I was looking for someplace that was not national chain. I was just about to hang up hope and head for the cracker barrel when I passed Mel's Dinner in Bradenton. It was busy but not overly packed. Ordered up a plate of chopped sirloin with two eggs over easy and some hashbrowns. When you need a little protien you cant miss with this combo. it was served up hot and fresh, the only downer was a lack of seasoning in the preparation. That doesnt suprise me int his area as it is a huge retirement population and they tend to not like the extra season or spice that they younger crowd likes. After packing it all down and finishing it off with a glass of moo juice I loaded up and headed east out of town. Rolled back home on another route and was back in the house by noon. 198 miles, some nice scenery and a good breakfast and only 4.2 gallons of distilled dinosaur burned up in the process. On a side note I had the oil changed and service done on the Honda on Saturday in Lakeland and the bike seems a lot smoother and happier with the new vital fluids.

3 weeks, 2400 miles, 2 wheels and no pickup truck

Took the Riders Edge MSF class and as soon as I finished I left the truck at dad's house and jumped on my new Honda VFR Interceptor and rode it home. And then like Forest Gump I liked it so much I just kept riding and riding and riding. A week at home and then two weeks on the road for business and pleasure. Used UPS and Fedex to ship what I couldnt carry on the motorcycle and had a great time. Visited friends, road my bicycle a little, took some leadership classes at headquarters, ate a lot of good roadfood, some GREAT roadfood and a little mediocre roadfood. Stuck to the highways and backroads as much as possible and only used the Interstate when necessary. Learned a lot and learned that I still have a lot to learn to become a proficient rider and a SAFE rider. The best meal on the trip was Clarks Home Grill serving up some Wagyu bone in ribeyes for dinner one night. Mega size and mega tasty. The best restaraunt meal was the Triangle in Charleston for the boneless porkchop blueplate lunch special, that really hit the spot and fueled me up on the last days ride to the house. The most relaxing day of the trip was the second Saturday in Myrtle Beach. Walked up the beach and down the beach, had some good beach dive food for lunch and a "few" Guiness at the Molly Darcy Pub next door. Best riding day was Sunday from Albany to Charlotte. Lots of good backroads and a tasty sausage biscuit breakfast at Striplings in Warwick, GA, thanks Paula Deen! Best sleep of the trip was the Tuesday night I got home, 585 miles, 12 hours on the road, 2 beers when I got home and my own soft bed at the end of the day.

Where to next? Key West maybe or another beach trip. Will have to look at the calender and clear a stretch of days, the road is calling and the bike is willing.

1-month, 2- wheels, 3- dragged foot pegs....

I have been drooling over motorcycles for 33 years now. It really is my parents fault. When I was5 and my brother was 6 we moved to a house on the other side of the railroad tracks. The other side of the tracks from 2 different motorcycle dealers. My brother and I used to go over and hang out in the shops looking at chrome, rubber, aluminum and steel. There was a Honda dealer right behind our house and a Kawasaki dealer down the street from him. Lots of CB's, KZ's, and all sorts of things to grab the fascination of a 5 year old. We used to wait till the new models would come out and we would BEG the shop guys to give us the old posters from the previous models and we would decorate our rooms with them. In the next 33 years my motorcycle experience other than reading every monthly edition of Cycleworld or Motorcyclist I could lay my hand on was limited to rides with uncles, cousins or friends who I could mooch rides off of. Vfr500 Interceptor, Kawi LTD440, briggs and stratton scooters, vespa scooters, anything I could lay my hands on. In my teens my mother would always speak of the evils of motorcycles and how our family friend Huckle had been run off in the ditch on his bike by some drunk crazy and he laid there for hours until he dragged himself up to the road for help. Then recently we got onto a discussion about bikes and she brought up the fact the around the time she was pregnant with me and right after my brother was born that she had ridden the 125-250 size enduro street bike that dad had bought as backup transport for the family car. So evidently I was bitten by the motorcycle bug while in the womb. Flash a couple weeks forward and I set my sites on a certain bike, call them, do the research and drive up and pull the trigger. Hello to one 2005 Honda Interceptor 800 sport touring bike. Picked it up with my pickup and took it to Dads house and put it there. Sign up for the Motorcycle Safety Foundation beginners class the following weekend. $300 at the local Harley dealer in Lakeland, FL. Dave and Bill are the instructors. I wont bore you with the details, but it was a hugely informative class and I would highly encourage ANYONE new or old to take it to pickup new skills and safe driving techniques. The highlight of the weekend was leaning over far enough in the cornering skills exercise that I actually dragged the footpegs in turns in both directions on the cool little Buell Blast 500cc bikes they provide for the classes. I was able to work thru a lot of the jitters and relearn the proper techniques to do battle on the streets without being a total idiot. So I aced the riding test Sunday afternoon and aced the written test Sunday afternoon, and picked up my paperwork and headed to Dads house. I had ridden around the neighborhood on the new Honda a couple times. Enough to realize that it is a supremely powerful bike, and while it seems intimidating at first, what it really needs is smooth throttle, clutch and brake skills and it responds well. So I filled her up, loaded her up with my weekend bag and pointed it south towards Sebring by way of Grandma's place and a friends house in Winter Haven. The Winter haven part was a last minute detour when the south to Sebring route was filled with a dark sky and rain. 123.4 miles later I was home safe with a huge smile on my face, a sore butt from 2 full days of sitting on motorcycles, a numb finger from the vibrating clutch lever on the Blast motorcycle, and sense of accomplishment from completing the class and my first long trip on my new Honda. I dont think I can fully explain my sense of wanderlust and anticipation to the roads ahead that I want to cover. I cant tell you what they all will be, because the wander part of wanderlust is striking me again for the first time since I used to drive a semi-tractor cross country about 10 years ago. Keep your ears peeled and if you hear a Roadrunner style "beep beep" in your driveway that is probably me!

Did I miss a full moon?

These last 5 days have been a real chore. Here is a chort list of crisis that have conspired to throw down a butt kicking I have not seen in a long time.
Favorite dog having medical-food issues
Mom backing into my truck
Moms car refusing to start
Tenant having a leaking washer
Tenant still having a leaking washer
Tenant breaking the faucet on kitchen sink
Another trucking company breaking a trailer in half
Making good money, but not great money this month
New tenant renting apartment
Grandmother getting grumpy with the new living situation
Cousin flying in for vist
Aunt flying in for visit
Another cousin flying in this coming weekend
Painter showing up and doing half ass job
Normally I try to lead a pretty level- no drama life style. I dont like boring, but I do not appreciate over the top drama. So now it is one day after most of the drama and I am mentally and physically exhausted. Fortunately I am able now to come home and even if it is 105 outside I have an inside trainer for the bike, so I can hop on, turn on the tube and tune out on reality and tune in to the bicycle for 60 minutes worth of sweat therapy. This always seems to reset my outlook and all of a sudden you start looking at the other side of all the drama.
My relatives are here to visit which is a good thing.
Moms car was aminor issue and it is back up and running
Grandmother is lined up for a better living situation with more one on one care
The dog has settled down a little and is having a string of good days
Work is going well this month and we will have the better numbers to prove it
Thanks bike for a little sanity at 18mph.

I only have good days and great days.

Today was a pretty good day. Spent the weekend up at the parents house helping them get settled into the new house and visiting grandma. Saturday evening my dad and I put together some Closetmaid brand garage cabinets and shelves. For the person who knows the business end of a power screwdriver, these are really top shelf cabinets and go together well, just remember they are not kidding when they say some assembly required. Then Sunday we went out to play a round of golf at the club with the Sunday morning regulars group. The game of the day was called Shambles. It is like a scramble but whoever's drive you use, you have to count their score for the whole hole. So there we are, a sunny warm Sunday morning, tanked the forst hole, but then we tightened up and started playing pretty well. I like this golf course a lot and the more I play it the better I like it. We cruise down to the 12th hole and my dad tee'd off first. This is a par three that was playing at 147 yards. They have a bunker directly in the front middle of the green and the pin today was right behind the bunker and close enough that you could not see the bottom of the stick. Dads shot was heading straight for the pin and dropped in real close from what we could see, but too many times before I have seen shots like that whuch end up in the bunker. I didnt see any sand fly, but I also didnt see the balls bounce. I teed up and played my shot pin high, but off the left side of the green. The two other gentlemen in the group tee'd off and both were just off the green near mine. We drove the carts around the back of the green and everyone grabbed their putters and walked over. My dad walked up to the pin and looked in the hole and saw his ball in there. It was a pretty exciting moment. 67 years old and playing lots of golf and fortunately I was there to see it and share the moment with him. There was a ball mark about 5 inches from the cup which means it hit, bounced and rattled into the hole. We finished out the round, did not finish in the money, but dad bought a round in the bar for everyone and we had a good time. I can only hope to hit a hole in one of my own some day.