The long way home

Rather you ride a

Suzuki,

Harley or

YAMAHA

anything on two wheels; three if you count tikes (I do) rather you are a

writer,

doctor,

school teacher

or even a hardcore outlaw biker,

 we all have one thing in common.

I’m sure at one time or another we all take “the long way home” from time to time. Think about it (I did today) you get off work, and all of a sudden you find yourself taking a side road that takes you home but not in the straightest route. As I was cruising down a side country road

to my house adding at least another 15 or 20 miles to my trip home…this is something almost never do while riding in a car…It got me thinking…Surely I’m not the only one doing this…am I?

Just something to think about…As I said before…I DID.
Big Al

20 Percent Off ???

Ok here is the story…my wife and I went to the mall Saturday to do some Christmas shopping, well let me clarify…Man type shopping:

I only agreed, due to we were only going in for one thing and one thing only. My wife, Signe, was so proud of a twenty percent off coupon

she had in hand and wanted to get this special present for one of the members of our family (I will call the family member Cool-B-X, and the present, Mystery-Box-One,

just so I want be giving away any Christmas surprise)


First, parking was a nightmare.

What made it worse was I was trying to find a mall entrance, NOT an entrance through one of the many department store.  Guys you understand this, if you walk through one of these stores to get to the mall with your lady, you know you will have to almost drag them out by force…

they always have to look and touch everything…


shoes…

makeup…

clothes…

They never want to look a cool stuff like...


Guns…

Camping gear…

Fishing stuff…

I bet guys would want to go shopping more if they did, yea like that is going to happen.


Once we made it to the store, I put blinders on my wife

and we went straight to the store. We were greeted by a sales man that quickly showed us three different Mystery-Box-Ones, ranging from 20 dollars to 41 dollars…Guys, guess which one my wife picked? You guessed it, the 40 dollar one, mainly because we had our 20 percent coupon.

Once in line at the checkout we were informed that Mystery-Box-One was on sale,

plus we can also use our 20 percent off. So we ended up getting it for around 25 dollars…WOW!!! What a deal…RIGHT?

Hold on, after we left the mall (yes I had to drag her out)

we had to go to Wal-Mart to get some groceries (guys you know where this story is going). The ladies are still proud of my wife

for getting the Mystery-Box-One on sale and 20 percent off.

Once inside, I walked to the man side of Wal-Mart to get some carburetor cleaner (up and coming story on the blog), while the wife started grocery shopping. While on my walk-a-bout in the store

I happen upon the EXACT same Mystery-Box-One on the shelf…

The price you ask? With NO discount and NO twenty percent off?…Nineteen dollars and forty-nine cents…


Merry Christmas everyone.


Big Al

WHY QUARTERBACKS NEED SHORT NAMES

I got this email today and just had to share it with everyone…it explains a lot. Now I know why quarterbacks have short names…enjoy!!!

ROMO # 9....

Brady # 12 & Favre # 4...

Then came Roethlisberger # 7....

Big AL

Dude…Where’s my motorcycle?

Friday December 10, 2010

Woke up this morning the birds were singing,

the sun was rising

and best of all the little wife was not yelling at me for any reason.

Ha-ha. She even got up early and cooked me a big breakfast before work.

Wow, what more could a guy want (ok there is that, but I keep this site PG-13, sorry no details on that)

Anyway back to my story. After breakfast, we had brief discussion on world events and up and coming Christmas, and then she went to get ready for work while I updated my blog. I then got dressed and went back into the den to get my boots on, as my wife went outside to the garage…THAT’S WHEN I GOT THE CALL!!!

I saw my wife pulling out of the driveway in her car… I felt my cell phone vibrate then ring, it was her. I found this to be a little strange…then those words that will make even the most hardcore biker shake in their boots…

DUDE, WHERE IS YOUR MOTORCYCLE???

I have to admit my heart sank, my hands shook and my breathing deepen.

My first thought was some Nar-do-Wellers had stopped by during the night and took it.

Second thought…repo man (I watch to much TV) I’d never let my baby get behind in payments.

Third thought…the little wife had gone blind and just did not see it.

Then it hit me like a TON OF BRICKS!!!

I had moved it to the motorcycle shop the night before on the other side of her car to install a new seat. Crisis avoided, the bike was safe and sound just in a lot of pieces…let me explain, one of my bosses,Rick, has a 2008 Yamaha just like mine except with a larger motor, I think it is a 1700, mines a 1100 v-star. Anyway he had bought a new seat for his (mustang seat) and he gave me his driver backrest (old man seat as I like to call it)

to see if it would fit mine. I was planning on doing a most excellent post about the installation of the backrest on my bike, but to my dismay the backrest would not fit,

of course I found this out after I had taken everything off my bike…well no harm done, I’ll put it back together to night.

Till next time, ride safe and put some clothing on…IT’S COLD OUT THERE!!!
Big Al

A CUP OF TEA

A friend of mine sent me this email a few days ago and I just had to share it with everyone…It made me think back to when my girl Allison was just a baby and it was just Allison an myself spending quality time together…great times…READ ON, and yes I added a few photos just so you would be sure to get a good visual of the story…ha-ha.

ONLY A MOTHER WOULD KNOW...
~A Cup of Tea ~

One day my mother was out, and my dad was in charge of me.

I was maybe 2 1/2 years old. Someone had given me a little 'tea set' as a gift, and it was one of my favorite toys.

Daddy was in the living room engrossed in the evening news when I brought him a little cup of 'tea', which was just water. After several cups of tea and lots of praise for such yummy tea, my mom came home.

My dad made her wait in the living room to watch me bring him a cup of tea, because it was 'just the cutest thing!' Mom waited, and sure enough, here I came down the hall with a cup of tea for Daddy; and she watched him drink it up.

Then she said, (as only a mother would know), "'Did it ever occur to you that the only place she can reach to get water, is the toilet?"

Big Al

Cold weather motorcycle riding???

On my ride to work the other day the temperature was some where in the low 30’s. I kept thinking to myself, why am I not cold? This went over and over in my mind, why am I not freezing? Then when I get to work,  I see everyone (car & truck people) running for what it looks like…their lives.

To get from their auto’s to the warmth of the building. Oh yea, I left out the part where they are screaming at me things like your crazy, it’s too cold to ride.

I have to wonder, what is it that keeps bikers warm…

Is it the adrenalin?

The motor producing heat?

Body goes numb?

The love of riding?

What is it, sure we have all been cold at one time or another while riding on longer trips,  but think about it…if you take your car somewhere in 30 degree weather you will find yourself almost dashing to the car, turning on the heater full blast and praying for heater gods

to heat the car up fast. Then once you reach your destination, you jump out, zip up your jacket tight and do the fast walk to the building you are going to. If you are on a bike, sure you may feel the first shock of the cold wind hitting your face but it seems only seconds later, you feel fine and having a great time even knowing with the wind chill it's got to be around 0 degrees.

So I ask you fellow bikers, what is it that keeps us from freezing? I need your help on this one.

Big Al