Holy cow!
Some friends of a friend of Mary’s were staying next door, and we were invited over for a drink on the deck.
Why not? We can always ditch.
Well, they were a bunch of musicians, having a ball on the back deck.
One of them was related.
One of them was famous.
And 3 of them, shall we say, knew their guitars by heart. They got to jamming a playlist together, and they were Good. Very good.
And it was just a couple of us watching. Not even the bugs showed up.
When we showed up, introductions were made, drinks all around, and I eventually sat down, and then they started playing again. Except that I’d kinda sat myself ‘on stage’, where a musician should have been. Oops. It didn’t seem to bother them, and I, a deaf guy, was surround-sound serenaded with high quality guitar music until I had to pee.
It blew my mind.
We went bowling, and I bowled 4 whole games, and didn’t get a single strike.
When I finally got my exhaust pipes back from the shop, the way was finally clear to finish my god damn motorcycle.
The exhausts fit perfectly. They made me proud. Hear me brag, because that was hard!
I plowed through a pent-up backlog of big and small moto-tasks until finally, my checklist was nothing but checks, and then I rolled the Machine outside, gassed it up and started it.
I adjusted the idle and watched it warm up, and suddenly it was spewing fluid like it’s blown a hose. Fuck! I shut it down. I was bummed.
Luckily, it was only gasoline, and the fix was easy, and when I tried it again, it was fine.
I synced the carbs, put it in gear, and rode it up and down the road a couple times.
There were some minor problems and some easy fixes, but the bike seems to be basically road worthy, and I’m ready to register it.
After all that work, this is what you get.
That’s a real nice bike, if I do say so myself!
Today was not a good day.
Today, the tractor sprung a leak.
Today, I drove to the DMV to register my bike, and they turned me down.
Today, I tried to take the bike for a ride, and it wouldn’t start.
Today, the drain on the kitchen sink came loose, and gray water went everywhere.
Today is over.
Celia and the boys stayed next door for a couple weeks, and she attracts visitors like bugs, so we did a fair amount of socializing.
Maggie’s birthday was well-attended.
Plenty of parking.
Loud. Very loud.
There is some stupid law that says I can’t register my bike because I don’t have a title or a bill of sale. That’s a whole ‘nother story, but for now, it means that if I want to work the bugs out of the bike, then I need to ride it illegally.
I swapped out the plates from the Kawasaki so I’d at least look legal while I rode the roads.
I’m not sure how many laws I’m breaking so far, but all I gotta do is not get arrested, and I’ll be fine.
Be inconspicuous. Blend in.
So I rode around and I ran some errands, and the bike was doing fine, and I got a little bolder, and I drove on busier roads, and then … it stalled at the red light on the Bypass.
At the busiest place in town, at the busiest time of day, the bike went dead.
The light turned green.
I couldn’t get it into neutral.
I couldn’t get it to start.
I couldn’t think straight, and the cars behind me were backed up waiting, waiting …
I pushed off to the side and let the traffic go by while I reset my brain and my bike.
It was something dumb, and I won’t be doing that again.
I started it back up, put my tail between my legs, and took the back roads back home.
Inconspicuously.
I had two problems.
Remember the deck that fell off the Stowe house? When I took it apart, I saved the planks because they were ‘too good to throw out,’ and they’ve been in a disorderly pile for a year and a half. So …
A: What can I do with my pile of planks? and
B: My new patio needs afternoon shade.
I had two birds. All I needed was a stone.
Surely there’s a way to turn a pile of pressure treated 2×10’s into shade?
And it would be a plus if it wasn’t ugly.
Well I say that ugly is in the eye of the beholder, and beauty is a work in progress.
Spoiler alert: The idea is to plant climbing plants, turning blazing sun into dappled shade. And since the deck and the patio are not parallel, the trellis between them will consist of a twisted plane, and the planter box twists with it.
I got about this far before my sander bit the dust.
I went to The Goldfinch to buy some Truffled Ketchup, and I was 2nd in line to check out.
The proprietor appeared to be a friend of the party ahead of me in line, and she gave each of them an enthusiastic hug and some obligatory chat before checking them out, while I gave them space from afar. And as their hugging petered out, one of them looked at me, watching them, and we both kind of shrugged, and smiled, and leaned in for a hug of our own, for no good reason.
Two complete strangers, and we were both a little embarrassed, and a little happy.
Thanks, lady. You made my day.