Sailor

Went to the parliament buildings today to participate in the annual " Take a MLA (member of the Legislative Assembly) for a ride day". I figure they have been taking us for a ride for a longtime. The transportation minister for the fiberal government came out and announced two new pieces of legislation. One is that motorcycles no longer have to have snow tires in BC. It seems that certain areas such as mountain passes are posted during winter months that vehicles must have snow tires and motorcycles have been getting ticketed for not having them even when there is no snow. The other is that no vehicle may park within 20 feet of a stop sign or intersection. Now motorcycles can use that space to park in. That one makes sense since motorcycles don't block anyone's sight lines. In fact it is hard to get anyone to even see motorcycles.

People see what they expect to see. If your keys are on the kitchen table and you know the table has been cleared you can scan the table and not see them. This is because your eye takes a picture of one end of the table then jumps to the other end and takes another picture. You would get motion sickness if it did not. Your mind expects the table to be empty so that is the info it gives you. When you stop and look at the middle of the table you see the keys. I was riding with a friend recently and he was in front. A car pulled up beside me then started to pull over into my lane. He saw the bike up front but expected the lane beside him to be empty. When my Wolo went off he jumped so high I thought his head was going to hit the roof.

My brother in law worked until past 65 then retired. Within months he got Peritonitis, which can be fatal. They discovered it was caused by cancer in his bowl. again life threatening. When they took out several feet of his bowl they discovered he had liver cancer. When they operated on that they discovered cancer in his lungs. So much for their travel plans and a happy retirement. He is now going for chemo 3 times a week and will as long as he lives. Too many times I have seen people work every day they could only to die within months of retirement. I retired early. I figured enjoying the life I have left was the important thing.

It is in the other building in Clinton.

I always flash the brake lights while slowing. I also watch my rear view and when someone is approaching while I am stopped I flash the brake lights again. As usual I stop so that I have an escape rout if anything does go wrong.

Just back from Clinton BC. Went for their game dinner. Second time we have gone. This year they had such goodies as...... Bourbon Bear Balls Baked Stuffed Salmon Buffalo Pineapple Puma Pulled elk Sizzling hot beaver Elk Stroganoff Elk chow mein Boar stew Mountain Goat Stew Smoked Boar Beer bear Yak Moose Deer Salmon Balls And lots of other game goodies. And for the wimps......Prime Rib and Ham with veggies. Janet noted that my plate had no veggies. There was no room for any.

OK, so I will settle for less weight, full instruments and a little more power. With all the 1 liter cars coming out with turbochargers it would be interesting to see one fitted to a Venture, preferably mine.

I was at the Cody meet and really enjoyed riding that area.

I don't want a Harley and I don't want a Harley clone. I want a Venture V4 with less weight, lower center of gravity, more power and full instruments. That should not be too hard to do.

The wife's doctor retired so she is going to a new office. Dr Butcher and Dr Beaver. Yes,I do have to bite my tongue.

Around here it is earthquakes and tidal waves that are the fear. They put out buoys to monitor wave heights up north some time ago. They had 100 feet of slack in the line. A wave came through and lifted one right out of its anchor. They have found ocean debris 200 feet up the sides of mountains up some of the inlets. We know an earthquake is coming, just don't know when.

Don't know about there but here I believe it is illegal to turn left over a solid line. Check the road. Pictures are gold. If possible get pictures of any damage to the side of his car. This would show he was turning at the time. Lack of heavy damage to the car would show you were not speeding. Take pictures of the road at the site. There may be debris showing the exact spot and the absence of skid marks also show you were not speeding and had no warning or time to hit the brakes.

Darn it Rick! Now I am hungry.

They are sure big enough.

If it hasn't got a V4 I won't buy it. I would definitely buy it with a V6.

May the wind always be at your back.

Where we are on the west coast we are living on a major fault line. According to the experts we are overdue for a major earthquake. I will stay here and take my chances. Earthquakes, forest fires, tornadoes tsunamis, avalanches, motorcycles, irate ex wives, take your pick.

I have to go to reserve when the tank is still reading 1/4 full. It is a nuisance.

Hey Rick! Git out yur guitar and join in. You could have a second income and buy more go fast chrome. lol.

Way back when I had a Yamaha 400 and a girlfriend with two young daughters. They wanted to ride on the bike. I made it a rule that as soon as their feet could reach the foot pegs I would take them. Every couple of days they would climb on the bike to check. Finally they reached and by then they were used to being on it. I would never attach anyone to the bike. In an accident you want to part ways with the bike not be dragged along.

Just so you know, we leave that door open not to get rid of the cold, but to encourage you guys down south to visit.

Too bad it is not true. Just think, all those FBI and HS guys in vans keeping an eye on your bike. You would never have to worry about it being stolen.

Forecast for Vancouver.....November to March ....rain, March to May....cloudy with sunny breaks, May to October...sunny. We hit it lucky last weekend. Went to Port Angeles and did not get rained on. Good deal. For $80.00 US we walked on the MV Coho and walked up to the Red Lion in PA, checked in for the night then took the free shuttle to 7 Cedars casino. Threw away a little cash, had a great meal then back to the Red Lion for the night and walk onto the MV Coho to return to Victoria.

Had some sort of boat nearly all my life. sailboats for the last 30 years. Had to give it up due to bad knees. Loved being out on the water in any weather.

OK, so I am old. I remember when the Canuck buck was worth a buck and a quarter US. That was a long time ago. I dealt directly with the hotel and it was cheaper. When I travel I use my debit card at a local atm to get cash for whatever country I am in. Cheaper than a credit card. I use the cc for gas purchases. Our politicians want to keep the dollar low to encourage tourism and trade. It does mean we pay higher prices.