Daring Hill Adventures

After puttering around the driveway and the street outside I was ready to take the bike down the hill and toward a real road.

Background:
I live on Daring Hill Ln. It’s called Daring Hill rightly so. It’s a significantly steep dirt/gravel hill up to the road that levels out and then round the corner to my house. So going down and then back up the hill was giving me a little concern.

The experience going down the hill was perfect yesterday. I turned the bike around and plowed back up the hill with no problems at all. It was a very happy moment that I didn’t have any problems going down or up the hill. I feel somewhat silly for being concerned but for not being on a street bike in almost 14 years it can pass it off for that. If it was a dirt bike I probably wouldn’t have thought twice about it.

Anyways today I got home from work changed pants and grabbed my gear and pulled the bike out of the garage to go for a ride. This was my first on street adventure with the new bike. So I went down the hill and down the road to a real paved road. By the way, we live a little over a mile off of a paved real road.

When I got to the end of dirt and to the beginning of pavement another biker was coming from my left. I was waiting and as normal I got the friendly wave. I waved back as he passed and started out onto the paved road. As I did so I stalled the bike! Yes I stalled it on my first outing to the pavement. I’m still getting used to the clutch and the “friction zone” so in time and practice I won’t do that. I can drive a stick-shift car/truck second nature now but I remember back when I first started and how many times I did the herky-jerky and stalled it out.

I take the Motorcycle Safety Foundation Beginner Riders Course on Wed/Thur/Sat/Sun and hopefully I’ll do well with that and get my full motorcycle endorsement. Right now I’m riding on a permit which allows sunrise to sunset which is actually really cool.

Happy birthday to me!

Well June 16th was my 29th birthday. Yes still young but I still feel very old.

I got a lot of great presents from the kids and Erin gave me the best of all. In fact I have a picture of it….. No, not that. We talked and agreed that I could get a motorcycle. It’s been years… over 10 to be exact since I’ve ridden a street motorcycle. I’ve been on dirt bikes since but not a street bike. So before and during and after my birthday I was shopping and looking and sitting and thinking and looking and sitting and thinking… You get the point.

Well, I decided on a Yamaha V-Star 650 Custom. I was thinking of getting the 1100 but I thought twice about it since it’s been a long time since I’ve been on a bike I didn’t want to be stupid and start off to big again and the 650 gets better gas mileage and that’s one of the big points. Park my big truck and start riding a motorcycle to work.

So, here’s some pictures of the birthday and some of the motorcycle.

Here is the picture of the half-eaten cake on my birthday. Notice there are candles in it but it’s already eaten??? Hahahaha well father’s day and my birthday are generally back to back. We didn’t have enough candles so there’s 20 candles and a big 9 from Conner’s birthday. There’s Rowan giggling in the picture

And here’s a picture of the bike with the kids posing… notice Conner’s “I’m cool” look and stance…. Yeah he’ll be a biker

The Great Society: Introduction

I’m going to begin a series outlining how great this society is and what we have become.  However as I don’t have the time at the moment to write up a complete part 1 to the series I will post this brief introduction with the link of the day.

Technology has in many ways improved our lives and in many ways made our lives worse.  It has made people more inteligent with free access to information, and it has made people stupid with the inability to operate basic machinery.  So here is the link to the woman that couldn’t unlock her car door… FROM THE INSIDE OF THE CAR……

http://www.kutv.com/content/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=89d59491-3910-45c2-9643-3a2fd9347606

And we actually let these types of people DRIVE CARS…. I’m amazed really.  She can operate a cell phone but not use a manual lever to unlock her car door.  Simply amazing.

Slow Internet

Time since updates…

Yay for John Deere!

We’re getting a small tractor on Tuesday!  It will have a scoop and a backhoe and we’ll be getting a chipper a few days later.  I cannot explain my happiness.  If you’ve ever tried to clear land with a chain saw, shovel, various rakes, pruning shears and a wheelbarrow and felt like you were washing dishes with a q-tip, you know EXACTLY how I feel.   I’m turning very country bumpkin, since I now daydream of tools and sheds instead of other insignificant ways to waste our money. 

Progress, minus pictures

So, we’ve acquired more animals and still have tons of work to do.   We now have an adorable bunny named Sheila, because Rowan names everything  Sheila.  We also have five baby chicks that are about a week old.  I have come to the realization that we won’t be able to go anywhere overnight unless we have someone to take care of our chickens, which is a definite downside for me since I NEED to go places and experience different things.  Camping is especially crucial for my sanity during the nicer months, but I’ll just have to live with it.  We have so much outdoor stuff to do, hopefully I won’t think too much about wanting to do something else.

 We need big equipment to clear our garden area faster.  We’re contemplating buying a small tractor that has multiple attachments because we need a frontloader, a chipper, a backhoe, a tiller, a grader and I’m sure there are other things we need that we haven’t thought of yet.  As fun as it is to have lots of room, it’s a lot of work to clear a sixth of an acre or so…by hand.  We want to have a large garden and become more self sufficient, especially with the cost of produce so high and possible looming food shortages.  With a large garden, we can grow enough to eat fresh during the summer and fall and hopefully grow enough to freeze and can for the winter and spring.  I know this is the first year, but I have such high hopes. 

 We also need to finish the chicken coop.  We need to put the floor on and build a run.  We also need to put screens over the windows, cut out a chicken sized door, add nesting boxes (later when the chickens are ready to start laying so they don’t use them for other grody things) and roosts.  It feels like it will never be finished, but I’m sure it will.  It has to be in about two months!  One thing at a time.

 I need to figure out how to tame our wild berry bushes.  We have blackberries and wineberries intermingled in a thicket near our house, but I’m a little concerned about going out to pick in late summer because we had a copperhead in our woods last year.  If we clear around the bushes and keep a path open through the middle, maybe it won’t be so bad. 

 I think we now have enough firewood for the entire next winter.  The oaks we cut down were huge and we’re still not done cutting them into rounds and stacking them to be split later.  Some rounds are so large that we can’t lift them.  It will be nice to not pay for wood next fall.  We should save several hundred over the next year.  AND now that the trees are down, we have HD TV and we have plenty of sunny space on the roof for solar panels when we’re ready for them.  I would love to be self sufficient when it comes to electrity and it will make us completely self sufficient when it comes to our water, because even though we have a well, we have an electric pump to bring the water to the house.  We may even be able to create a set up for heating our hot water with the sun.  So many possibilities!

 When I remember how to do it (actually, find the directions John gave me for how to do it), I’ll add some pics of the clearing that’s going on and the chicks and bunny.  For now, I’ll leave it to your imagination.

Erin, I’m sorry I doubted the hawks and chickens….

Link:

http://www.local6.com/news/15719528/detail.html?1

Hawk Flies Off With Family’s Pet At Doggie Day Care

OVIEDO, Fla. — A family’s 3-pound Papillon dog was snatched, carried off by a large hawk after it was let outside at a doggie day care business, according to a manager.

“Free Organs” Post on Craig’s List Leads To Organ Harvester Frenzy

Be very, very careful what gets posted on the internet…..

Link:  http://www.bbspot.com/News/2008/03/free-organs-on-craigs-list.html

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Thursday, March 27 12:00 AM ET
“Free Organs” Post on Craig’s List Leads To Organ Harvester Frenzy
By Brian Briggs

Portland, OR – Vince Hopper hangs on to life at a local hospital after fighting off organ harvesters who came to his apartment searching for “free organs” advertised on Craig’s List.

Police arrested several harvesters, but organ seekers made off with a kidney, half a liver, two fingers and a pancreas before the crowd was dispelled.

“I woke up and there were these people lined up with scalpels, steak knives, hacksaws, basically anything that could cut. I didn’t know what the hell was going on at first. Then some guy mentioned a Craig’s List ad, and I was screaming that it wasn’t me who placed the ad. Some guy pulled out my organ donor card and showed it to every one. That was all the confirmation they needed,” said Hopper.

Hopper said he was just happy he only lost “internal organs. If you know what I mean.”

Many of the people who didn’t get organs were considering suing Hopper and Craig’s List. Greg Belton, who came looking for a spleen, said, “I spent $50 on ice. Somebody’s going to pay for that. It’s false advertising or something.”

Another man hoping to add an appendix to his collection said this was the second time he’d been burned by Craig’s List. “I’m going to go back to using eBay for appendixes. They’re much more reliable for that kinda thing.”Related News

Authorities are trying to track down who placed the ad, but said this isn’t the first time something like this has happened. Police detective Rod Stumpley said, “Last week we had people come and take kids from homes after a ‘free kids’ ad was placed, we had a Wal-Mart cleared out after an ‘everything’s free’ ad was placed. It’s on the Internet so you can hardly blame people for believing it.”

A representative from Craig’s List said that people shouldn’t believe every “free organ” posting on the site, and that harvesters should consult with the donor before removing his pancreas just to be on the safe side.

Common Sense and Humor

“Those who hammer their guns into plows will plow for those who do not.”

Thomas Jefferson

FIREARMS REFRESHER COURSE

1. An armed man is a citizen. An unarmed man is a subject.

2. A gun in the hand is better than a cop on the phone.

3. Colt: The original point and click interface.

4. Gun control is not about guns; it’s about control.

5. If guns are outlawed, can we use swords?

6. If guns cause crime, then pencils cause misspelled words.

7. Free men do not ask permission to bear arms.

8. If you don’t know your rights, you don’t have any.

9. Those who trade liberty for security have neither.

10. The United States Constitution (c)1791. All Rights Reserved.

11. What part of “shall not be infringed” do you not understand?

12. The Second Amendment is in place in case the politicians ignore the others.

13. 64,999,987 firearms owners killed no one yesterday.

14. Guns only have two enemies; rust and politicians.

15. Know guns, know peace, know safety. No guns, no peace, no safety.

16. You don’t shoot to kill; you shoot to stay alive.

17. 911: Government sponsored Dial-a-Prayer.

18. Assault is a behavior, not a device.

19. Criminals love gun control; it makes their jobs safer.

20. If guns cause crime, then matches cause arson.

21. Only a government that is afraid of its citizens tries to control them.

22. You have only the rights you are willing to fight for.

23. Enforce the gun control laws we ALREADY have; don’t make more.

24. When you remove the people’s right to bear arms, you create slaves.

25. The American Revolution would never have happened with gun control.

26. “Calling an illegal alien an “undocumented immigrant” is like calling a drug dealer an “unlicensed pharmacist.