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Toilets are Deadly!

chris — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 01:42:37 +0000

So the girlfriend and I are babysitting her 11 year old nephew (one radical dude) Bryson, who is in to making videos for the youtubes. We’re sitting around after some tasty lunch and decide to make a short little film. Bryson calls his friend Mason over and we scheme a little story together and are on our way to youtubedom. Exclusive video inside!

Bryson is one talented dude, he’s into all sorts of geeky things like videos, html, visual basic, and much more all on his own. He’s self taught in almost everything he does, which is pretty amazing to me. He’s got his grubby fingers in photoshop, vegas, after effects… its crazy and this kid is going places.

If you like what you see and want more, Bryson (bbabybry) and Mason (mrtshirt21) have youtube accounts, they post silly videos often and will be posting more I am sure.

My involvement in this video was pretty minor, I had the initial idea for the plot and Bry and Mason took off from there. Anyways, enough babbling, ON WITH THE SHOW!

Justice is Done!

chris — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 23:39:49 +0000

Jump in the fire! We found a house, made an offer, and closed! Ups and downs abound, a few weeks late- but done! Supposedly it went smoothly, it was still emotionally exhausting. I’ll spare you the details of the buying process; lets cut to the meat of this hush puppy-

Built 1945 – added onto in the 50′s & 60′s

~1800 square feet

3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 2 living areas

large garage

large corner lot with big, old trees

pool

character-a-plenty

This is part of a work log documenting the victories and failures of the queen’s empire.
Read more about the house here »

I introduce to you- THE HOUSE!

The house isn’t perfect, but that’s part of the appeal. There is a lot of room for updating, the lady we bought it from had lived there since she and her husband had it built in the 40′s, which is nice. There are some problem areas with some minor/major wood rot that need to get addressed pretty quick, but its been kept up well over all. The electrical is another area that is a little scary. I think her husband was a bit of an electrical hobbyist, as there are signs of an old rather Rube Goldberg alarm system and possibly an old DIY 1960′s style sprinkler system, though we’re not sure exactly. Lots of extension cords plugged into extension cords plugged into 6 port expanders plugged into light sockets. One room’s wall outlets were actually powered by an extension cord that ran into the room next to it.

Anyhow, be sure to keep checking back, as I will be adding posts on interesting items found in the house and projects we take on.

Circles, Running in

chris — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 17:36:26 +0000

Quick update on the lack of updates. In the last few months I have been trying to buy a house which has been pretty interesting and emotionally crazy, both the ups and downs. It has also sucked up a lot of free time, an amazing amount of time/energy actually. I’ve put an offer in on a place in Fort Worth, if the loan goes through I should close on the 25th of Sept. I have also moved out of the house I was renting, so until there is closure on the new house front I am “homeless”, or squatting with my parents and friends. I did get a chance to goto the MotoGP race in Indianapolis at the end of August, it was great. Lots and lots of motorcycles there, good racing and photos galore. I have a lot of photos to go through and upload here from MotoGP and other trips. Anyhow, still alive over here, just busy. Look for images from recent trips soon.

An Experiment in Responsible Lending Practices

chris — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 22:29:50 +0000

Gee, wouldn’t it be swell if 2 friends could go in on a house together? Too bad no sane bank would lend good money to 2 oafs…

These long held thoughts, became verbalized over lunch between myself and my good friend and many year roommate Jon. We are running out of our lease at the place we are renting with some other roommates so new housing is in order. We have noticed rent houses we like in the areas near our place of work seem few and far between, however homes for sale are all over the place. Again, the question of buying a house with a friend has come to mind… is it really that crazy? We consulted google- sure enough, banks are dumb enough to lend good money to 2 oafs like Jon and I.

This is part of a work log documenting the victories and failures of the queen’s empire.

Read more about the house here »

After consulting google a bit buying a house with a trusted friend doesn’t seem that crazy. A few documents squaring away solutions for dealing with possible problems are needed between the two parties, but its not that uncommon. I won’t go into too much detail here, but since most people think we’re crazy for trying it- I’ll just say that we’ve thought a lot about it and we have ways of dealing with disagreement and fists. Basically it comes down to this; If we can’t reach an agreement within a given period of time- we sell the house. We realize that unless house prices sky rocket in the next 3-5 years we won’t make money on the place, but we should save money over renting pretty much no matter what we do. So if we get in a horrible situation and we hate each other- sell the house.

At this point we applied to a few banks to talk about lending and we’re pre-approved for a loan… Crazy is the only real word that comes to mind. No wonder banks are in trouble. Whatever, lets take advantage of their insanity and the governments healthy 8 grand first time home owners tax credit and buy a house!

A friend recommended us a realtor- it is time to figure out what we can afford and what that buys us near work.

An epic quest into adulthood has begun.

A KTM and A Boy Ride South

chris — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 01:19:27 +0000

When the girl friend tells you there’s a family gathering and she wants you to come, primal instinct kinda kicks in; you grimace and plan for the worst. When the girlfriend then tells you that the family gathering is in the Texas hill country and SHE suggests you take your motorcycle; you perk up a little, at least I do. I don’ think she had in mind the same route I did though. Once she learned that my route stretched a 4 hour car trip into an 8 hour bike trip she regretted the suggestion. Oh well! Too late now, hopes are up, let’s find some dirt!

The plan was to leave work early Friday and set off for Kingsland, Texas in time to avoid riding at night. (Tip: Don’t make a plan… They never, ever, work.) First problem; I had kinda forgotten about the trip and as a result I had kinda forgotten to ask for permission to leave work early. I show up on the bike, packed and ready to go. I had intentions of finding the boss early and asking if leaving around noon would be ok… instead he finds me and dumps a few projects on my plate that were needed for a Monday meeting (that of course didn’t happen, ha). Doh. Oh well that’s what I get. I do my very best to finish up the new tasks at hand as early as possible. Done by 3, not so bad… 3 PM +8… ok that’s a little late, but I can always cut it short, no sweat. I gear up, roll the bike outside… key on, LETS GO!

…Uh I said, LETS GO! …No fire, lights go dead, display goes dead, no power. Damn. So my thoughts go straight to the shop I had just picked the bike up from the day prior. When I rolled out there was no neutral light, which was odd, but I figured it just burnt out or some such. Maybe there’s a ground issue or something in the harness got messed up? I had the forks rebuilt, so they were in the cowling behind the dash… I kick the bike over in the heat a little while, no hint of starting. Damn. I trouble shoot a little bit, no voltage out of the battery, put it on a charger… still no start. Damn. I find a battery close by, but it’s dry and has to have acid added and charge overnight… so it’s 6 and it’s gotta charge over night. The guy at the bike shop offers to charge the thing on his nifty charger; I take him up on his offer and will be at his shop to pick the battery up at 9. Swell.

Of course all of this means I won’t be arriving at aforementioned family function on time, this doesn’t sit well with the girlfriend. After a brief argument over the phone, its decided that I’ll arrive at a reasonable time Saturday even if I take the bike on the scenic route. From my point of view, if I’m not taking the scenic route on the bike, I’ll be driving. No point in slabbing it just to be on 2 wheels. I’ve spent a good amount of energy getting ready for a bike trip, my hopes are set on a bike trip; I’m taking a bike trip.

Next morning I pick up the fully charged battery, head over to work where I left the bike, install the new battery… turn the key, lights come on, click the start button… nothing. Damn. So again the neutral light that isn’t working pops into my head. Suppose the bike needs to be in neutral to start… duh. So I find the neutral sensor, sure enough, a ground wire is loose. Damn. They must have taken it off to change the oil or some such. There are 2 oil lines down there. I hook the wire back to its lug, turn the key on once again, hit the start button… VROOM! At last! Wait… if the neutral light kept it from starting, how’d I ride it home from the shop? Turns out the KTM’s logic is smart enough to know, if its in neutral, no need for clutch. If it’s in gear, clutch is needed. Ah, well that doesn’t explain the battery… or does it? I don’t know, I think it just forced a battery issue that was there to come up sooner perhaps. The battery was certainly dead. Oh well, I’ll tackle this later. I also learned that the headlights must be switched off to kick start the bike with a totally dead battery. Of course the American models don’t have a headlight kill switch like the euro/ausie versions do. Oh well, another lesson learned and another to do item on the list.

All this writing and I still haven’t left?! Damn.

Now that the bike is running its time to button her up, re load the bags, suit up and go. We’re ready and leaving at 10:30. Not too bad.

The initial portion of the trip is cutting through down town Fort Worth as I head south. I almost never do highways on the bike; it just doesn’t feel as safe and controlled as the slower city streets to me. I come to an intersection with a police officer holding up traffic for what initially think is a funeral. Once I get closer it’s clear that this is no funeral; every car is some kind of goofy, brightly colored oldsmobile with 53” chrome wheels and an uber sound system. I wait for a moment for what I think is the end of this crazy, make shift parade. Just as ‘the end’ approaches a dozen more cars crawl around a corner and it is obvious this isn’t going to end any time soon. I don’t have time for this business; I’ve got a girlfriend that’s mad. I bust a U and cut through some residential streets to an intersection not controlled by ‘the man’. A quick pause while I wait for a chance to shoot between the chrome madness. A gap! I gun it across the street for a quick getaway. It’s at this point that I realize that a KTM 640 adventure with only a few gallons of gas and a fairly loaded tail bag is very, very easy to wheelie off the line. I’m sure this looked cool as hell and appropriately disrespectful to the police and parade goers alike-however I am not accustomed to the ways of the wheelie. This simple tire floating act successfully scared the

expletive deleted

out of one puny motorcycle rider. Saying that this woke me up for the rest of the trip is a pretty big understatement.

Fort Worth quickly turns into open country and dirt roads. Not so much twisty just yet, but it’s good to get away from the concrete no matter how strait the roads may be.

At this point I am doing my best to keep moving; I topped off the 8 gallon tank to the max just before I left Fort Worth. I am making time best I can. Every minute I’m not going south or west I can hear the clock ticking and the girlfriend yelling. As a result of this drive to go south I did not stop for many photos, so I apologize for that. I do my best to keep the speed down on dirt roads, one for safety sake, and two, to enjoy the scenery. The KTM performs VERY well on dirt roads. The suspension really soaks up the minor bumps and dips of typical dirt roads. Even wash boards fly under the bike with no hint of trouble, impressive.

Now, some where south of Grandbury, I’ve hit the start of hill country, the roads turn from good to wonderful. Ups, downs, twists, turns, water crossings, oh yes, it’s on. Again, I’m trying to keep my speed down in the dirt, but it’s so easy to go fast. As I enter a downhill tight right hander the gravel quickly gets loose and the hard dirt underneath is rutted from rains. The front wheel starts to skid out following an unseen rut, the rear quickly locks and I’m skidding front and rear on a tangent outwards towards a ditch. Except this is a dirt road that’s had a grader run over it and on the edges of the roads are ~1’ high piles of gravel. Of course I’m on a path far from perpendicular to this 1’ high mound. I ease off the brakes, aim for the mound of gravel and brace for a dump… but wait… I’m on a KTM, 1’ tall piles of gravel do not phase my orange beast! I plow up and over and into a ditch, still up right, amazing. I kill the engine and glance back at my skid marks… I can’t believe I made it up and over this mound upright, especially at the angle I hit it. Take it easy chris… I’m still in a hurry though, so I fire up and head out. I’m kicking myself now for not taking pictures…

The rest of the trip south is pretty un eventful, at some point after a good amount of distance on a dirt country road I hit a gate, no trespassing, poo. Even though the map calls it a CR still, damn. I decide it’s late enough and I’ve gotten a good fill of dirt roads, I’ll turn the wick up on smaller country highways to make time to Kingsland. I pull in after a good 6 or so hours on the road in time to enjoy some tubing, some swimming and some food. A good day.

After a late night of tom foolery with the girlfriend and her family, we’re late to rise. Most everyone is packed up already and on their way out. I pretty much follow suit. As I power up my GPS I realize the “reverse route” option is available in the PC software, but not in the hand held unit… doh. I was kind of counting on that to get me north via my desired twisty roads, the roads I by passed in the last leg of yesterday’s ride. Poo. Oh well, a little bit of time and I’ve got a new route mapped out for getting home.

Pretty well strait away I’m on small country roads twisting and turning through the hills in route to my first dirt section of the route back. It’s not long before the GPS is informing me of a right turn coming up on to dirt. As I turn I note the sign indeed says CR, for country road, and not PR for private road, good, good. I cross an un gated cattle guard and I see a speed limit sign. Ok definitely not a private road. I press further along; enjoying the lack of fences on either side I spy a gate ahead. DAMN! I hate when these roads dead end into private land… But wait… this gate isn’t signed, it isn’t locked, my GPS indicates it’s still a country road, maybe this is one of those gates you’re allowed to pass through. Just close behind you… Yea… I’ve seen guys do this on the internet all the time. No “No Trespassing” sign, no lock, map says country road; 3 strikes for you gate. I walk up, unlock, push the bike through… I have to admit, my heart is RACING, I’ve got a huge surge of adrenalin running through me, and all I’ve done is go through a gate, sheesh!

The road opens up again, beautiful weather, big sky, no fences, I’m loving it.

A few more miles and I stop to make sure none of my gear has shifted, I kick the tires, and all seems well. My front is really showing the pavement miles I’ve put on it since I bought the bike a few months ago. I think this will be its last trip. In profile it looks like a rear dune tire… those knobs started off square, I promise.

Here’s a water crossing I ran across, check out the downstream rock formations, very interesting. It almost looks like someone dumped a bunch of concrete in piles. I haven’t seen anything like this around before. Not much water across this one, most of the smaller crossings were dry, despite heavy rains the days prior to the trip. This one had just enough water to make it slick as snot, but not enough to splash. I actually road across this one, saw the rocks, turned around, road back, turned around and stopped half way for the picture. I damn near fell walking around getting this picture, how the bike stayed up crossing 3 times is beyond me.

Shadows are starting to get long, my GPS route says 5 hours till to Fort Worth, it’s about 5 PM. I should probably step it up and make some time before dusk. It’s hard to bypass dirt when there is still light out though. I decide to follow my GPS down some more dirt roads before it gets too dark and just take my time getting back. Oh well if it’s an hour or two later than planned, the lights work fine, just take it easy and watch for deer. I’ll be fine.

I take a left off of one nice country road onto a less maintained one that claims to be quite twisty per my GPS. I’m a little hesitant to get my hopes up, as the twisty country roads often turn into private roads pretty quick. This one claims to be a CR all the way through though, let’s see. It’s not long on this particular road before I’m greeted with another cattle guard with no gate, only this one has a small sign to the side that reads, “No Hunting Keep Out!”. Damn. I pause and think. Ok lets use the strike system that rewarded us so well before. No gate, marked as a CR… 2 strikes, damn that sign… Well it does say hunters keep out… I’m not a hunter… 3 strikes, ONWARD! The road starts out promising, a little less maintained than normal, that’s good. The road goes past a few gated entrances to various ranches, that’s a good sign. It means at least a mail man comes out here, this is a CR for sure… the road gets a little less maintained, a green stripe shows up down the center… good signs, GPS shows lots of twists ahead… I pop up a hill and turn a corner… a house. Damn. I hate passing so close by these houses. I had been so nervous opening and closing gates earlier near houses, if there was a gate here, I would be literally right next to the house… not a good sign. I pull in closer and the road disappears into grass. The direction the GPS points me is not a road. Damn. I glance around to make sure I’m not missing anything, it’s clear I shouldn’t be here. I turn around and head back from where I came. As I’m re tracing my steps, prior to reaching the other gated entrances to other ranches I see a white truck rumbling towards me. Uhoh. I’m headed away from this persons house, this person might not be too happy with me… They slow to a stop, just off the road enough to let me by. I can make out a lady driving the truck with a less than friendly face on. Her face is somewhere between “who the hell is this guy and who the hell does he think he is leaving MY house!?” and “why the hell would someone ride a damn motorcycle all the way out here?!”. I slowed and debated if I should stop or not. I gave her a big wave and waited for any sort of motion that would indicate her wanting me to stop. She pretty well just stared at me with her mixed angry/dumbfounded face as I road by. She never changed expressions or took her hands off the wheel, so I just kept going. As soon as I was out of her sight, I turned the wick up. I’m outa here. I don’t want no funny business. I feel a little bad about not stopping, I could have explained myself and told her I was sorry and probably put her at ease that I wasn’t rummaging around her home while she was away. But by the same token, that could have opened a can of worms I didn’t really want to be held accountable for. I gave her the opportunity to open lines of communication, she declined, ride on.

I took the route around the back side to where the road I was on should let out. It ended up being a big fancy gate to some ranch, so if it was ever a country road I don’t think it was one for long. Oh well. Not much further I spot an armadillo rummaging around the edge of the road. These guys are pretty blind and they make so much noise pushing their nose through leaves and pulling up roots I don’t think they are ever too aware of their surroundings. I watched him for a while, never turning off my bike and I don’t think he ever knew I was there. Crazy guy. A few miles later I round a corner to see 5 or 6 deer running from me. They run along the road a few feet, then turn and jump a short fence and sprint across a field. Way too fast for me to pull my camera out, sorry guys, I didn’t mean to interrupt your meal.

I spy an old Texaco station on the side of the road and take a few pictures. Judging from the tire tracks in the gravel, I’m not the first to have this idea. There must have been a lot of bikes out today. I never saw em though. Aside from a few passing cars, the back roads of Texas are EMPTY.

I stop at a Dairy Queen for dinner with intentions of getting a hot fudge Sunday, but make the mistake of filling up on my burger and fries, oh well, some other time perhaps. Shadows are getting long. I dunno how other bikers do the whole picture while moving business. It took some doing to get this, and I was basically putting along in 1st gear. How on earth do you keep the camera handy and work it with gloves on while going 60? Nutters.

The sun starts to set and I race towards a ridge to try and capture a nice sunset. It never really materializes though, the sun disappears behind low distant clouds without much fanfare.

My last planned dirt road in the dusk has a semi worn “no trespassing” sign next to the un gated cattle guard. I debate taking it, but being dusk, I decide to re route a less scenic route and get home. While I’m stopped a fellow in an SUV stops to make sure I’m OK, I mention that I’m just re routing per the sign, and he wishes me luck and drives off.

As I’m slabbing it home, I spot a quick ‘short cut’ around the backside of a state park, I decide to take it despite the darkness and see what it has to offer. It starts out twisty, and fun and drops down into a small valley. I pass a sign that states there is a load zoned bridge ahead. Joy. Much to my surprise, a small wooden decked truss bridge, awesome! I block the road for a few shots. The lightening bugs floating all around me, my headlights really set them off.

More slab into Fort Worth, the last little twisty 2 lane road into town is spent behind an overly cautious Lexus SUV, I really dislike these things. Engine off at 11:30 or so, safe and sound. All in all I probably did around 500 miles there and back. Good times. Thanks for reading!

Iphone 3.0, it has come! it has come! it has come!

chris — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 05:13:09 +0000

So it is here, a week early even. The new iPhone software has magically found it’s way through torrents on to my phone, joy. I can not begin to express the wonder that is the ability to copy and paste; I can not begin to express the wonder that is the ability to copy and paste. (yes that was copied and pasted; copied and pasted copied and pasted; copied and pasted copied and pasted; copied and pasted copied and pasted; copied and pasted copied and pasted; copied and pasted). This opens the ability for me to create and use pseudo templates for blog posts via my phone, again, joy.

Lake Whitney Ride

chris — Sun, 31 May 2009 16:15:22 +0000

Just a quick day ride down to Lake Whitney and back, this ride was about 6 hours. The end destinations were 2 loops, both dirt, both swing by state parks. Actually, they probably weren’t even state parks, just parks, very basic. First was Nolan River Park; second, was Lake Whitney State Park. Just nice weather, no traffic, and big skys. The trip was pretty uneventful, lots of time to think to myself about this that and the other. OH! I did learn a lesson, PACK EVERYTHING ON YOUR BIKE. I had my camera bag on my back… 3 hours in and my shoulders and back were KILLING ME. I’ve since done longer rides with nothing but a camelbak on my person and what a difference!

Possum Kingdom Lake, TX to Knoxville, TN via Thievery

chris — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 16:00:02 +0000

Enter one three day weekend and the desire to ride motorcycles and camp. Day one is a Friday, my good friend Oliver and myself have the day off; we decide to make a 2 hour trip to Possum Kingdom Lake from the center of DFW last 8 or so hours. How does one do this? Why does one do this? On bikes one must seek out the twisty and the rough, or one is not having fun. Riding strait down the highway is for Harleys. We’re young and full of piss and vinegar as my dad might say. Bring on the monkey butt!

Most of the ride out to Possum Kingdom Lake is pretty fast paced on good pavement; though we managed to find a few dirt roads to play on. Sir Oliver is on his trusty SV650 which as you can see is not exactly setup for even smooth dirt roads. This gave me the chance to speed ahead and catch the olives riding by… here he kind of foils my plans by stopping, but you get the idea.

At some point (my guess is around lunch time) we stop at a ‘hole in the wall’ restaurant and order up some tasty burgers. Here you can see the bikes together. Mine, the yellow Suzuki DRZ, Oliver’s, the grey Suzuki SV650, obviously these guys are good at different things; they got along well enough during the trip though.

As we get closer to PK Lake we try one of the smaller roads on our GPS only to find it turning private, of course. It is a pretty interesting 200 yards before we turn around though. Slick tires in sand on a sport bike isn’t fun.

CAMP! After much searching we decide the primitive camps at PK lake aren’t nearly primitive enough to make the extra effort worthwhile. We pick a more luxurious site with parking and setup camp while we await my girlfriend, Tiffany, to arrive in her car as she does not get this wonderful Friday of Fridays off work.

Fast forward to the next day and we’re making breakfast. Bacon, sausage, bacon, and eggs cooked in the grease from the meat, this is ridiculously filling.

The plan for today is to split up a bit. Oliver is showing interest in getting a BMW GS800 which is a more off road capable bike, similar to my DRZ (2X), so I suggest he take my bike around exploring dirt roads while Tiff and I hike and take pictures. He accepts the offer and off he goes. There had been a number of grass fires in the area which Oliver promptly found. Tiff and I found cactus and cliffs and the like.

Just as Tiff and I are finishing up our hike we get a call from the olives, flat tire, DOH. Of course I don’t have a spare tube or tire spoons for changing anything out, but it’s early enough in the day that perhaps we can find a shop with a tube to spare. Lesson learned there, I have tools for everything but actually fixing a flat.

Tiff and I drive out to where Oliver is waiting patiently for us. We quickly fashion a 2nd kickstand and get the rear wheel off. Before you can blink we’re in the car calling shops for a spare tube. One is closed; another has no tube, and suggests another shop, Smithy’s. Gee, that sounds like a Harley shop… sure enough. My hopes were shot when we pulled up and saw a few billion tons of chrome sitting out front. We carry the tire around back just in case and the mechanic on duty is amazed at this monster of a tire we’ve brought him. He asks if its off some crazy 800cc dirt bike, ha, just a piddly DRZ. In his defence it sure looks wide and crazy when flat. The guys at Smithy’s shop in are VERY, VERY, VERY friendly and helpful. The owner is calling other shops in town to search for a 17″ tube while the fellow in the shop digs around for the correct tube, all the while sharing a few stories of how he’s taken his hog off the beaten path. The flat turned out to be a ripped off valve stem, no patching allowed, ha. He rummages through a pile of old tubes and magically finds the right size out of pure luck. He had no idea how long that tube had been sitting around unused. Before we can blink he’s got the new tube installed, tire slimed and re aired up. All this at 5 something on a Saturday in the country, hee haw what luck and what nice people. We thank him for his troubles and head back to the bike. From the tire off on the side of the road to returning to the bike was about an hour and a half.

As we’re driving back I see the side road the bike is parked on, we’re rounding a blind corner so I can’t see the whole road yet. More and more of the road gets exposed as we’re moving forward. I get that silly feeling you get when you walk out of a store and can’t find your car for a few moments before you realize its parked one row over. I get that feeling another 2 times going around this corner. Each time I chuckle in my head, “silly boy, its just like in parking lots”- only the 3rd time the bike isn’t actually there and the entire road is exposed, no more blind corner… “Uhoh.”, we’re thinking, “maybe it’s in the ditch.”… We turn the corner on to the street where the bike, was (hint), parked. No bike to be seen. Just some skid marks and the stick-stand (patent pending) left on the side of the road.

Well poo… We call the cops, and wait for the sheriff to arrive and get our info. Everyone is real nice and helpful. Much more so than local DFW cops I reckon. I’m in pretty good spirits concidering. Whlie we’re waiting on the police to get there I make a call to my mom and inform her of the exciting news. I’m still pretty calm, untill she questions if the insurance has theift or not… “Uhoh.”, I’m thinking. At this point I start to get upset and a little worried. See I had LITERALLY just paid off the bike, like sent the last payment the day before we left just paid off. Damn you murphy, damn you. At least if I don’t have insurance I won’t owe anyone any money. Once the business with the police is over we pile into the beetle, which was a squeeze as we weren’t planning on 3 people + tools + bags + rear tire fitting for the return trip. We manage and get back to camp, I’m more than a little cheesed. Its late, we’re starving, theiving bastards. We start the fire for some very, very tasty stew.

Weekend in PK ends in rain and thoughts of a new bike. At this point we’re not sure if the DRZ is covered for theft or not, theiving bastards.

It takes a few days, but the word from the insurance company is, yes, it is covered for theft. Hoorah. Of course I did not wait for this news to start perusing the internet for a new bike. I have always fancied the KTM 640 Adventure. I did my readings, the used prices are right; the specs make it sound like it’s what I want. The problem… none in Texas, damn. I find one that seems perfect in Tennessee, that’s far… but its near my aunt and uncle in Knoxville… VERY close, interesting.

I mention this to my parents and to my surprise they’re kinda up for a road trip up to TN. A quick call to the fellow selling and we are on our way to pick up a 2001 KTM 640 Adventure. I had kinda been looking forward to attempting a 1000 mile journey back to TX on my own, but doing this with a truck sure sounds a lot faster and more comfy. Plus, it affords a couple of days in the mountains on a new bike. That sure beats strait stretches of country road pushing to make Texas in a few days. 5000 dollars later and I’m a KTM owner!

This ends up to be an awesome plan, as the roads near my aunt and uncle’s place are amazing. We spend the next 2 days traversing the national parks on and off the pavement, including the famous “Tail of the Dragon”, or “Deal’s Gap”, or 300 and some curves in a few miles.

Some of the time in the mountains I follow my family in the truck, other times they follow me. Good times, good times, good times. I’ll have to make the trip out there on a bike again some time. There is MUCH to explore. A big thanks has to go out to my aunt and uncle who played tour guide and stitched together some amazing roads with awesome views.

Anyhow, that about sums up how I rode a DRZ out to Possum Kingdom Lake and ended up riding a KTM back from Tennessee.

You Say Potato, I Say Kaboom

chris — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 05:57:20 +0000

“Dude, I’m gonna build a potato gun”, and with that quick blurb our destiny for this Wednesday night was set. Further plans were hatched, materials were purchased, apple juice was drank and we had ourselves a shiny new potato gun; dubbed the widow maker. Twas actually one undisclosed friend/co-worker and his undisclosed female friend who conspired to make le ole widow maker come to fruition. I could not have been more surprised with how well the pictures came out. I basically grabbed my camera last second thinking perhaps i’d get a neat blurry fireball out the end of the PVC canon…. boy was I wrong. I just threw it into manual, set the shutter to 2 seconds, iso to 800 and hoped for the best… 3, 2, 1, thoomp… whoa! It looks like flippin red hot steel!

My car + snow (or slush really) = wow

chris — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 16:00:36 +0000

So Tuesday evening it snowed, or slushed, here in good ole Tejas. Me being a good citizen, I decided it’d be a grand idea to take the opportunity to meet up with a friend and try driving sideways on empty streets/parking lots at midnight.

I bought a used Lexus IS300 not too long ago and had not had the chance to drive it in a limited grip situation, so I jumped when a buddy of mine in his older rear wheel drive Corolla wanted to go gallivanting. So long story short; I am astounded at how well the ole IS300 performed. First of all its a rear wheel drive car, manual transmission with a limited slip differential. Typically this kinda spells disaster when traction goes by the way side as once you loose grip, both tires are spinning and that’s all she wrote. The IS300 though performed amazingly, I could be 90 degrees off to direction of travel and still recover with ease. I actually found it hard to make the thing spin out in any type of slush other than solid ice. I really had to abuse the throttle and throw the car into a skid to make the rear end step out beyond recovery.

So I guess that’s all I wanted to say really, I’m super super super impressed with how stable the ole lexus can be when tossed around. Sorry no pictures, there is video, but not in my hot little hands. If I get a hold of it I will update. That is all.