Memorial day, motorcycle (sold), mulch and more

We had a fairly eventful Memorial Day three-day weekend this year. Nothing spectacular, but a lot that went on - both good and bad.

It started with the air conditioner puking out on Saturday morning. You may have read my post about that already. It all worked out.

Sunday was church, and I ended up having to offer the morning prayer. Not that I minded, but I have always struggled with holidays like this, Veterans Day, and the like. As a pacifist I don't want to glorify war in any way, but at the same time, I have a hard time believing most military personnel would be IN FAVOR OF wars either. Certainly I feel remorse over those who have lost their lives, yet there seems to be a large segment of the American church who believe not being overly patriotic is anti-Christian. Anyway, I based my prayer off Isaiah's "Wonderful Counselor, Almighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace." I'm sure people didn't like that I prayed for peace... but I think that's their problem.

Other than that... we ended up getting ice cream sundaes at The Stand, then we went to Two-EE's winery and inhaled a bottle of cabernet. Sunday evening we cooked delmonico steaks on the grill. Yumm.

Monday was a pretty full day of work... and money!

I SOLD THE MOTORCYCLE!! I'd pretty much forgotten that I put an ad on Facebook last year trying to sell the 2006 Kawasaki 500 Vulcan. A random guy sent me a FB message and asked if he could come look at it yesterday. I was like, "Sure!" He drive down from Sturgis, Michigan with what looked like his son, and by golly... he bought it! He gave me 16 $100 bills.

I can't remember if I paid $1600 or $1400 for it - I'm pretty sure it was one or the other. I bought a battery and a cover for it, and that's the extent of money I spent on it in the 5 years we owned it.

I felt kind of bad, because he rode it home. I told him several times it hasn't been ridden much, and the gas was likely very old... but he took off... and I had my money.

I am a little torn. On the one hand, I never did ride it much so it was silly to keep it in the garage. On the other hand, I always MEANT to ride it more. I also feel bad for the grandkids. I know Caleb, especially, liked sitting on it. I can still remember when I sold my other motorcycle when Isaac was about their age, and he cried and cried and cried. I felt terrible about that. But... I guess there's nothing I can do now (except start wishing I had a motorcycle again).

Other than that, we worked our butts off in the backyard on Memorial Day. We tore out a bush, put some mulch down, and planted a raised garden - all along the back side of the house.

We intended to replace the mulch and underlayment earlier in the year, but it's been so rainy we just never got around to it. As for the raised garden... I built it out of some old boards I had laying around. I think we used 8 bags of a dirt mix from Menards. We just planted a couple pepper plants, some grape tomatoes, radishes and carrots. We are not great gardeners, but it just seemed like something to do. We'll see.

So, all in all, we got a lot of work done, and made some extra space in the garage. I'm trying not to think about the motorcycle too much. What's done is done. Life goes on.

And now it's Tuesday...

Start me up

Well, not me, actually. However, today I did start up the lawnmower, and the motorcycle, and put the snowblower into hibernation.

I thought I actually had a pretty good idea. When I checked the gas tank on the snowblower it was almost full. So I siphoned the gas from it into the lawnmower. Then I had an almost-empty tank on the snowblower and ran it out of gas. I also now have an almost-full tank on the lawnmower. No gas wasted!

The lawnmower didn't start on the first pull like my old one, but I only had to tug the rope a half dozen times or so and it took off. I guess this will be my first time with a new mower at the start of mowing season.

While I was at it, I also got the motorcycle out and started it up. I aired up both tires and, since it's a fairly nice sunny day (although a little windy and around 60f), I decided to take it around the block or two for a spin. It still seems to work okay. I'm still going back and forth as to whether I should sell it or not.

Anyway, other than using the leaf blower to clean out the garage, that was about the extent of my outdoor activities today.

Mower oil - motorcycle gas

I changed the oil in the lawnmower today. I wanted to wait to make sure it was going to be worth it. Dang... that thing will not die. I'm actually thinking of making a video of me starting it. I mean, after I changed the oil, I just pulled the rope back slowly to get the oil moved around, and the dern thing started up!! So I shut it off, and did it again - pulled the rope back ever so slowly - and it did it again! It's amazing. It's like a freak of nature! It's supernatural! I think I'm in love with my lawnmower motor.

I also got the bike (motorcycle) out and filled it with gas. I put premium in. Not sure why. Anyway, the mileage is at 4,735 (I know. It hardly has any miles for an '06). It has a gas tank mileage thingy, but grandson Caleb likes to turn that, so it's not always accurate. Who knows how long this tank will last. Hopefully not the entire summer.

I would like to start riding the motorcycle to work some. I'm also planning to ride the bicycle to work. It's just under 5 miles. In fact, tomorrow I have to take my vehicle in for service, so I will be riding the bicycle from the service garage.

So, I accomplished those things today.

Anniversary, chair, mother's day, motorcycle

From our wedding day May 14, 1983. Yeesh!

Today is our 34th wedding anniversary. I suppose that's pretty crazy when you think about it, so I don't dwell on it so much. Yes, it is an achievement, but one must always be mindful of the "there but for the grace of God, go I." So I appreciate that Jane has put up with me all these years - God knows there are many times she probably shouldn't have - but I appreciate that for some reason God has seen fit to keep us together all this time as well. It is likely nothing more than a humbling testament to his great grace. For that I am thankful.

We decided to go extravagant for this anniversary... We splurged and bought a new Lazyboy recliner!! We've looked a few times in the past year and thought about getting one before. We gave the dumpster chair that I used to sit in to a friend who had no furniture, and it isn't really something we NEEDED... but the old recliner we've had (that was given to us about 20 years ago) is starting to show its age and Jane doesn't find it overly comfortable anymore. So, I will take the old one, and Jane gets this new one. It was around $500, so it wasn't the cheapest, but it was also far from their more expensive chairs. I like it!

The lovely lady - in the new recliner.

The chair also coupled as Jane's Mother's Day gift. And I think it was a nice Mother's Day. The weather was gorgeous. The sun was shining and the temps reached into the 80's. We went to church this morning... Actually, we both went to a small group before church. Jane and Carrie are in a women's group, and I went to the 'open' group. We hadn't been to our church the past two Sundays due to traveling, so this was my first time in the small group. It was nice to be back in church, and afterward we went to one of our favorite pizza places downtown (Toscani's) and sat outside while eating lunch. Jane and Carrie went off this afternoon to get ice cream or some such "woman's thing"... ;) while Drew took the kids to his moms.

After lunch, since were were halfway there, Jane took me up to my storage facility and I got my motorcycle out and rode it home. Even though it's a little windy, it felt nice to ride in the sun. I came straight through town and nodded or waived at all the other motorcyclists I saw. I do have to admit that that's kind of a cool thing. I have no idea why they/we do it, but it's nice to be acknowledged.

This afternoon I've been tinkering in the garage, doing laundry, and writing this post. The cat is sitting on the desk beside me enjoying the sun herself. I may ride the bike over the Menards just for something to do, and I imagine Jane will be home shortly. Then we will likely call my mom to wish her a happy Mother's Day, and veg for the rest of the day. We've just started watching season 2 of 'Better Call Saul' so I imagine Jane may want to do that this evening.

That's pretty much how we roll now. Nothing too special, and just trying to keep the boat afloatin'. I'll take it.

Motorcycle serviced, haircut, and other saturday stuff

I love lazy Saturdays. We woke up naturally around 8 am. Unfortunately Jane had a nasty headache - possibly a migraine - but other than that we just lazed around a bit.

While she was sleeping/resting I decided to give myself a trim up top. I used my beard trimmer and used the #2 on top and #1 on the sides. It hadn't grown much since the last haircut, but looks much nicer when it's cleaned up. I also trimmed the beard and shaved the bare spots.

Once Jane was up and around we drove up to Redline Honda and I picked up my motorcycle. They called Thursday and said they were done with the oil change and check-over. I told them I would pick it up Friday (yesterday) but wasn't about to ride it with snow and ice on the road. I was glad that it was only $158, and apparently everything checked out okay. I also picked up a battery tender quick-connect. It was only $7 and now I won't have to take the seat off to charge it. Jane and I also looked around at the other bikes in the showroom. There were some nice ones. One of these days maybe...

After taking the motorcycle back to work (where I store it), we went home and got our workout stuff. We then went to the Central Y and worked out. I did the elliptical for 30 minutes and then the treadmill for 20. That's the longest I've ever done the elliptical. Jane did the treadmill and then sat in the sauna for awhile in hopes it would help her head/sinuses. I have no intention of ever checking out the men's sauna unless I am the only one in the entire building.

Now we are preparing for the arrival of the kids. We are babysitting the three grandchildren tonight so Carrie and go watch Drew's band play. I think we're going to take them to Chick-fil-a for supper.

And... that's about it for this nice lazy day.

Getting the motorcyle serviced

I finally took the '06 Kawasaki Vulcan 500 in to get it serviced and checked over yesterday. I took it to Redline Powersports - because it is just around the corner from work (which is also where I have been keeping the bike). After dropping it off I am wondering if that was such a good idea though.

Redline is known as a vintage motorcycle place, and also a Honda place. When I stopped in there to get the new battery for my bike the guy I talked to was very nice and said just drop my bike off anytime and they would take care of it (he knew it was a Kawasaki). However, when I talked to the guys in the shop they made me feel like they really weren't interested. In fact, the guy I talked to said he would have to talk to the mechanic to make sure he would even work on it, because it wasn't a Honda. He finally agreed "only because they didn't have a lot of work at the time."

I love driving by that place, and like looking at all the vintage Hondas. I wish I had one! But this experience rubbed me the wrong way and after leaving I wished I'd just said "no thanks" and rode my bike back to storage. But I didn't, so we will see how this goes. I don't have a very good feeling about it though. I can see it costing a bunch of money.

Anyway, I was still glad I finally did something. I've needed to have someone go through the bike. Even just changing the oil and making sure everything was adjusted okay. I meant to ride it the mile or two over there during one of the recent warm periods. That didn't work out, so it was a little chilly in the 30 degree weather yesterday. It's amazing how much the small shield on the front helps though. It wasn't near as cold of a ride as I thought it might be. I used to not like that shield, but it's really grown on me the more I've ridden with it on.

They told me the bike should be done in a week or so. So, I guess the verdict will be in soon.

New motorcycle battery

It's kind of an odd time of year to be replacing a motorcycle battery, but I finally got around to getting a new one for the 2006 Kawasaki Vulcan 500. It stopped taking a charge this fall when I parked it in my storage unit and I've had it sitting on the counter at work ever since. I hated buying a new battery in the middle of winter but I need to start it up and let it run every now and then.

Yesterday was a slow day at work so I slid over to Redline Powersports just around the corner from my office and bought a battery. I replaced it with what was in it - a YUASA YB12AL-A, and it was $61 including the fluid fill. One of these days I'll get around to putting it in the bike.

I could have gotten it cheaper somewhere else but this wasn't too much more and I like going in and looking at their old vintage bikes. Someday I'd like to own one but I suppose it's not really something I need. Nothin' wrong with lookin' though!

A "new" mower, and other saturday things

This is my new lawn mower. It's also my old lawn mower.

For the past few years I've been looking for a new mower because my old one was literally falling apart. I bought the old Murray 22" push mower 30-some years ago. It was the first mower I bought. Each spring I wondered if it would start, and it almost always did - on the very first pull! The problem was that the mower deck was breaking apart. I'd welded it a couple of times, but I can't imagine it would make another year.

Well, a couple months ago I found this green push mower in my dumpster at work. It looks almost new, but the engine had some parts missing. I tried to get it going but it was beyond my ability to repair. So... today I got the gumption to take the engine off of my old mower, and mount it onto this "new" deck. I was surprised that it fit perfectly. The engine looks a little over-sized on this deck, but I'd say I have a new mower.

In other events, I also managed to get the motorcycle in the garage for the winter. I also took a load of things to my storage unit (at work) and brought the snow blower home.

While I was doing those things, Jane put up our Christmas lights. It was a good day to do it, because this afternoon we got our first snowfall. More about that tomorrow.

Biked to work

'06 Kawasaki 500

I rode my motorcycle to work for the first time yesterday. It was a bonus when I found out that I got off at 12:30 too! So I cruised straight up through town in the morning, and right back downtown in the afternoon.

I've actually only had it out a couple times all summer. I was thinking of maybe even selling it. But it was a nice day, so I thought "what the heck." I also thought it would be good practice on my starts and stops by going through town. I couldn't believe it when I only had to stop for 1 out of 30-some stoplights on the way there! Talk about good timing.

Anyway, I probably won't ride it again for awhile since there is a chance of rain starting today and lasting until the end of time. But if it's ever nice out again, I think I kinda like riding it to work. My lunch fit perfectly in the bag on the back.

First mowing and motorcycle ride of the summer

I mowed the lawn for the first time this summer yesterday. I wasn't actually planning to, but when I ran the gas out of the snow blower I decided to get the mower out and see if it would start. I didn't actually plan to even use the old mower anymore. I thought it was probably done for. However, as usual, it started on the very first pull! So I raised it to the 2nd from highest notch and just evened off the grass.

The first mowing last year wasn't until May 3rd, and the year before that was April 26th. So this is a little early. It probably didn't need it, but it was such a nice day out. It was in the upper 70's. I see from last year's post that I didn't think the mower would make it through the year, but she surprised me again. I don't know if the deck can last this year though.

 I also got the motorcycle out yesterday. I was just seeing if it would start too, and decided to take it around the block. I got a big blister on the back of my left calf when I swung my leg over the first time. I guess that's what I get for wearing shorts on a motorcycle. Anyway, it started up pretty good too. I let it warm up quite awhile, and it seemed to run good as well.

Turkey dinner, x-mas decoration, motorbike stuff

We had our Thanksgiving dinner last night. Jane (and Anna) made all the fixins... turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, noodles, green bean casserole, stuffing, gravy, cranberry stuff, rolls, pumpkin pie, chocolate dessert, and Carrie brought her carrot casserole. Wow, I way over-ate. It was all fantastic though. We will most likely all have leftovers after church today ("all" meaning, us and the Feipel Five).

Jane also got our Christmas decorations out yesterday. Last year we left both trees together with the lights on and put them in the laundry room in the basement. So yesterday I just brought the one tree upstairs and put the other one in the downstairs living room. Jane and Anna hung the decorations, and Jane also put the lights on the two bushes outside. There are other various Christmas-y things throughout the house too.

I messed around with trying to winterize the motorcycle. At first I was going to drain the gas tank, but I eventually decided to just use that Sta-Bil gas treatment stuff. Of course, when I went to start the bike the battery was already dead. So I texted Dr. John and asked if I could come get the little trickle charger he told me I could have. I swung over and not only got that, but he also gave me the 3 motorcycle helmets he had left (including the one he was wearing when he totaled his Harley). It was kinda like Christmas!

So it felt like we got some stuff done yesterday. Although... I do still need to put the plastic on the inside of the living room windows upstairs. And some other stuff. Meh. I think now I will have some leftovers from last nights supper for breakfast, then it's off to church. I like going to church again. Most Sundays.

Title and registration for motorcycle, oktoberfest, mowing, trim, etc

Yesterday I went to the BMV and got the title and registration for the motorcycle. It has to be done within 31 days of purchase. It wouldn't have cost that much if not for the sales tax. It ended up being $180 or so.

Our Waynedale BMV is great though. It was busy - it was Saturday morning - and it still only took me 12 minutes from when I walked in the door to when I walked out. That's crazy. Someone has really shaped that place up.

When Jane got home I asked her to trim the hair on the back of my neck. I need to cut it, but that was good enough for now.

In the afternoon I went down to Headwaters Park West for the Mad Anthony 'OK to beer fest.' I always wondered why they had Octoberfest in September. Didn't know until yesterday that not the name of it. I saw Curt & Colleen there. I was actually hoping to run into Colleen's dad, but he wasn't there. So I just stood around mostly by myself, sampled quite a few craft beers, and listened to music.

When I got home I mowed the lawn. It was long again, but I still mowed one setting down from the highest.

I got a motorcycle

So... remember the story about my doctor friend who crashed his Harley?? Well, last night I bought his '06 Kawasaki Vulcan 500. It has 4530 miles on it. It had 3 miles on it when he bought it new. It did seem a tad ironic to be buying a man's motorcycle while he was in a wheelchair. At least this way he will no longer be tempted to ride it once he's recovered, but if he gets the urge bad enough, he knows he can borrow it anytime. Stranger still was that my next door neighbor just got his dad's Suzuki... because his dad wrecked his Harley. His father was killed in the accident though. Kinda weird that we both got bikes from similar circumstances, and within a week of each other.

Anyway, this is a pic of it in my garage. The son-in-law gave me a ride to my friends house after work last night. Of course it started raining on the way there. It had quit raining by the time I was ready to ride it home though. It rides good, but I do need to practice my starts and stops a little before I'm ready to maneuver the 32 stoplights on my way to work each day. My friend was kind enough to throw in the helmet that's sitting on the backrest.

So, here it is...

I don't want a pickle - and dr john's accident

Our friend Dr. John had a motorcycle accident last Saturday. Not exactly sure what happened, but I think he missed a curve and rolled with the bike down an embankment. He was near Fremont (or somewhere), and I guess he lay in the ditch bleeding for about a half hour before anyone found him. He broke his leg/ankle, quite a few ribs, the c-1 vertabrae in his neck, and scratched up his face pretty bad. None of us even knew it happened until like Tuesday(?). Mike and I went and visited him in the hospital that night, and I've stopped up to deliver him an ice cold Coca-Cola in the mornings on my way to work (I work just a mile from the hospital he's in). He hopes to be out of the hospital maybe next Friday.

Anyway, he has two motorcycles. I've wanted to buy his Kawasaki for awhile. It fits me just right, and is just about what I'm looking for. Well, it just so happens that he wrecked his Harley. He now says he is selling both bikes. So, while I hate the circumstances, I think I may actually get a motorcycle one of these days. I can't remember the specifics of it, but I like everything about it - other than the color (red). It would be great to ride to work and back, and take m'Lady out on evening rides around the countryside.

I've also always liked the Arlo Guthrie tune: "I don't want a pickle... just want to ride on my motor.. cy.. cle."

We'll see... I thought I was going to get to buy it once before. I'd be okay if he changed his mind. But if he doesn't... :)