Life

From Motorcycle Adventures

On Thanksgiving Day this year I rode over 300 miles to Cleveland on my VStar motorcycle to visit my sister. The picture at the left was taken upon my arrival at Crocker Park in the evening.

Heading out at 10:30 in the morning it was about 50 degrees Fahrenheit and sunny, a beautiful day for a ride. I decided not to put the windshield on the bike as it reduces my ability to control airflow with layers of clothing and is too hot with my winter gear on at those temperatures.

Today was my last day of full time employment at the PA Capitol Preservation Committee. Thanks to everyone who made me feel welcome over the years. To commemorate my many commutes, enjoy this motorcycle video including part of a favorite route to work on my 2008 Honda Rebel.

My Rebel Parked at Work on a Considerably Warmer Day, From Motorcycle Adventures

Headed to work today, it was 32.7 degrees F with fog. I was convinced, seeing the sun starting to poke out, all would be fine once I got to the top of the mountain and out of our valley of perpetual fog.

I started up the Rebel and after warming up a while, I lurched out the lane (still wasn't warm yet, had to increase choke and putter along; pretty common below 50F). Even though visibility was less than ideal, the roads were clean and dry. After puttering along across the valley, half opening my visor as needed to clear it and at times so I could see at all, I made it to the top of the mountain, but alas, the fog continued in the next valley.

From Cooking

Items we had on hand at the time and Karen's suggestion of using instant pudding as icing resulted in this delicious combination.

Loyalsock Valley Antique Machinery Association Show

Although rain from the previous day resulted in the cancellation of the tractor parade and poor attendance, there were still many tractors on display at the 2011 Loyalsock Valley Antique Machinery Association Show. One advantage to going on Sunday is hearing and seeing them pull out, which was a reasonable substitute for the parade.

An operating steam-powered sawmill was at the event, along with a selection of other operating pre-gasoline tractor motors.

Other features of the event include food vendors and a flea market with a wide variety of interesting items from wooden tool handles to fine china.

From Motorcycle Adventures

Attended Carlisle Bike Fest 2011 this year. Enjoyed looking at the rides people came in on; much of the show is the bikes people bring which they park in the middle of the show in wide enough aisles to easily wander up and down.

Other enjoyable attractions included the demo rides (which I didn't qualify for this year due to only having a permit, but watching and listening to new bikes was still cool), Biker Billy's cooking show (watch out if you're in the audience at one of these, he actively seeks victims to roast), and the Disc Connected K9's.

I drove in via a cage this year, scared off by the threat of rain which never materialized. By next year I hope to be more adventuresome.

Out on the shooting range with my sister and brother in law, I recorded this fun video of them alternating shots:



As my sister says it best in the video, "that's awesome!"

I've been looking at the various e-reader/tablet options for a while without finding anything compellingly more interesting than my netbook. Android tablets until now have been too slow to be fun to use and are riddled with technical problems, the iPad is too large for easy portability, is nearly as heavy as a netbook, and has a low ppi screen I find insufficient for reading, and the various e-readers didn't have color screens and/or had poor support for DRM-free formats.

Enter the Barnes and Noble nook color; this device has the better portability I am looking for, something I can slip into my coat pocket when I head to the coffee shop, a reasonably high ppi screen I find comfortable to read, and supports DRM-free ePub, PDF, and plain text formats. As shown on the screen, it's great for reading comic books in PDF form like Marvel's Complete Iron Man Collection. Gutenberg project ePub books work great on the device, as do other DRM-free ePub books available online directly from publishers. There are also various magazines online in PDF form including Model Railroad Hobbyist.

It has a shop as well, but until such shops are DRM-free I strongly recommend avoiding buying anything from them. Read EFF's The Right to Read before being tempted to purchase DRM materials of any kind, especially with so many other freedom preserving options available online.

We've been replacing our worn dishes with made in the USA Fiestaware dishes; Joyce brought these colors home today.

I can't imagine what inspired her to select these colors . . .

Some people waste their lives hating others instead of improving their own lives, placing blame for their own failures on others. It is human nature to need someone to blame sometimes to vent frustration, but once this basic need is filled, one needs to let it go. Life is too short to spend it on things like revenge that don't make any difference in the end. Such activities are often likely to end up causing more harm to oneself than the intended target.

Often such feelings are based on a misunderstanding of the whole situation; angry people rarely look at problems rationally, become paranoid, and take things out of context. I have had this happen to me personally a couple times over the years. Advice such as this is often given and rarely heeded; indeed one may need to experience both sides before really understanding it, and some are so focused on hate they can't let it go even with experience.

There are a lot of very good reasons to wear a helmet when riding a bicycle. Here's another one to add to the list.

Some crazed automobile driver may pull out a gun and shoot a bicycle rider in the head. He later justified his action; he was frustrated the rider was on a busy street obstructing traffic, so he apparently decided to take matters into his own hands. Thankfully wearing a helmet saved the rider's life from this lunatic.

While camping at French Creek State Park last weekend we encountered an ice cream location called Scoupe DeVille.

A short drive from the park, they dip Nelson's Ice Cream, locally made in Royersford, PA, as well as soft serve and various burger and fry type items. With a 50's theme inside including seating and an old fuel pump from the era, it has a fun atmosphere as well as delicious ice cream.

This delicious sandwich, called the Caitlin, is filled with corned beef, cole slaw, swiss cheese, and dressing on grilled rye bread. Available at the 3rd Street Deli across from Capitol Park in downtown Harrisburg, I have had a couple of these and enjoyed every tasty bite. Their sloppy joe is another favorite. Not the sweet variety most places have, this one has a more spicy flavor.

As the chef there once told me "breakfast is best"; I recommend their western omelets as well as the two eggs, home fries, and corn beef hash combination.

They are only open for breakfast and lunch, but if you find yourself downtown looking for a good hometown deli atmosphere and food, I recommend giving them a try.

For approximately the next eight weeks, Pepsi and Mountain Dew are available with sugar. Labeled as Mountain Dew and Pepsi 'throwback' (a reference to a marketing term used for football products), they are a refreshing return to what soda tasted like before the HFCS craze hit the soda industry in the mid 1980's.

I find the Mountain Dew throwback to have a more citrus-y taste with a lighter feel and less syrupy aftertaste. Pepsi throwback reminds me of what I liked about Coke, with a sharper cola flavor and again lacking a syrupy aftertaste. After drinking these more tasty products, I believe many consumers will find why so many are choosing to drink sugar-based products. Fortunately Boylan's, Jones, and other bottlers will continue to provide other flavor choices with sugar for consumers finding the switch back to HFCS in a few weeks intolerable.

Van Wagner is now on iTunes as DRM-free iTunes Plus selections. Only "Be a Tree" and "Shikellamy" are available so far.

His music is not the type of music that typically engages me the most, but as I say in my iTunes review of "Be a Tree":

Beautiful strings and well written lyrics bring the history of Pennsylvania in days past to life. Living in the state and experiencing the people and their stories, Van Wagner brings a fun and interesting perspective on everything from superstition, factory work, coal mining, and back woods philosophy to this album.

I consider this a decent capsule summary of his music in general; some albums focus more on history, others more on the atmosphere of life.

My favorite album by Van Wagner is "Climbing to the Top," but it is not available on iTunes yet.