I got a refund check in the mail from the Treasury. Apparently I overpaid my back taxes. And somehow miscalculated by twenty dollars. It’s just bizarre.… Read the rest
This evening I filled out a credit application for 2.9% financing on a Black 2005 Moto Guzzi California Stone. If I can get the low rate with only two or three thousand down, I’m likely to enter into the society of Guzzi owners.
I’ve only had my eye on the Stone for about a month, but that’s what I keep on coming back to. The transverse V‑twin has its hooks in me.
What’s weird is that, even though … Read the rest
The earlier OS X versions were kind of sketchy, but I’m really darn pleased about the April 2005 release of Emacs 22.0.50.1 on OS X. BBEdit is certainly a passable editor, and it’s gotten me through this far while the previous releases of Emacs were getting up to speed, but it just doesn’t sing to me the way that Emacs does.
OK granted, that “singing” is sort of an atonal dysphonic torture ballad, but such … Read the rest
I went with my riding group through some of the twisties in the Santa Cruz mountains. One from the group, Tim, very kindly offered to swap bikes with me so that I could get a taste of what else is out there.
So today for a half-hour that went way too fast (in more ways than one) I got to ride a Ducati Monster 750.
I was already getting the feeling that I might be outgrowing my Virago. This not … Read the rest
The first stop was at the ATM. I cleared out the account, I’m afraid. $0.65 left for me to spend recklessly, plus the eighty in cash that’s not in the account any more. Well, I get paid on Monday or Tuesday, so I’ll be fine. It just seems like living on the edge.
The second stop was to fuel up. I love my gas card these days. Especially with a two-and-a-half gallon tank I hate having to hand … Read the rest
A guy who earns more than three times what I do and who has been doing webdev work for over five years just responded to a bug report in his code by suggesting that my browser was misinterpreting an if statement in PHP.
Sometimes I feel like a complete idiot when talking to people who really know their stuff, like
Tonight was my first session of the Basic Motorcycle Maintenance Class at Subterranean Cycles. What a blast! Yes, I sort of understood the theory behind an internal combustion engine, but I never had any idea how the parts go together or work. I still have only an inkling, but I’ve seen behind the curtain and have been shown the basics of what goes on inside. No longer will I have to stare blankly when people make reference to common concepts … Read the rest
Shuffle play has brought me Killing Joke’s Money is Not Our God followed up by Juno Reactor’s God is God.
If the next song is “Helter Skelter” I’m in trouble.
On the topic of God doing for me what I cannot do for myself, it looks as though the household will be going its separate ways when the lease expires in July. Yeah, it’s been fun, sort of. Well, not really. It was great hanging out down at Muddy’s at Church and Market, and hmmm… I have a motorcycle which I usually ride down to Muddy’s anyway. I could keep doing that no matter where I live. I come back … Read the rest
http://www.subcycles.com/BMMC.html
Somehow I managed not to inherit my father’s magic touch with all things mechanical, but heck, maybe that’s just because I never tried.
Don’t worry, I’m not going to try fixing an in-warranty bike myself. I just want to learn the fundamentals. Looks like fun, eh?… Read the rest