What I Did On My Summer Vacation.

     Cheesy title right? Well, it was kind of a summer vacation, and like most vacations it was cut short due to unforeseen circumstances. I know I planned to get back on the ol' social media train in another 4 or 5 days, but there is a very good reason I am back tonight. I may not be able to write this in the near future. I am distinctly in Irma's path, and I really have no idea when I will have power and the internet to be able to post. The storm is hitting Sunday night, so I'm sure I will lose power before then, but if I don't, you can expect a Sunday Night Post.

     There is another reason as well. I missed doing this. I had no trouble not going on any social media outlets, but this, I had trouble not doing. There was a lot going on in the brief time I took off. There are Elie updates, there are Gypsy updates, there is some information about my family that live in Houston and were there for Harvey, there is even a Saki update.

     Let's just jump in with the Elie and Saki updates. There is good news, you don't have to read these,  because on Monday I made a video telling you everything about that, and for good measure I added in a little info about the music I will now be using on the YouTube channel. Without further adieu, here is said update.



     Saki looks pretty good right? Ok I have a few pictures for you that go along with this. The first one is the ramp I made for Elie so that she can get in and out of her house in her wheelchair.

     I'm pretty proud of that little ramp. This is something that I love doing, but never get much of a chance to do. When I was a kid, my dad taught me a ton of woodworking things, and I've never had much of a chance to take advantage of those lessons. Sure, when I was a kid, I made a bunch of ramps for my bike, out of discarded boards and things, but that was just hammer and nails. I had a plan in my head for what this should be, so I went out and bought a new circular saw, and got to work. You can't tell from he picture, but the ramp slides onto a little ledge, and the boards underneath are angle cut to support the wood in multiple areas to avoid bowing. It doesn't look like much, but it withstood me jumping up and down on it. I could have taken a little more time on the grip tape, to make it look a little more uniform and just better, but this is more about function and less about appeal. I do have one worry thought now. The wood is weather treated, so this storm coming up could do that little ramp in. If so, I'll just build another one of them. It will give me a good reason to use that new circular saw.

     The next couple of pictures are of Saki of course. While I was out on that ride I got a few good shots of Saki with that new rear seat cowl. so here they are.

     The first one is that obligatory before and after shot. You get to see what Saki looks like with the pillion seat and with the rear seat cowl. Let me tell you a little about atet cowl. It wasn't just a buy it and slap it on kind of thing. It was a buy it and assemble it kind of thing. I had to put all the dampners on it and bolt the locking bracket on. It wasn't hard to do, but you had to be very careful, so that you didn't scratch it all up while you were doing it. I put soft material underneath it, and gently did everything I had to do. It is an authentic Kawasaki OEM part, so it isn't something that is third party, it was made for my bike. I think it looks really good. As I said in the video, I still have the pillion seat, so I can pop it back on whenever I need to. 

     Something I forgot to mention in the video, also because I didn't record it to add it to the video, is that Elie gave me her helmet. I'm hoping to do another video tomorrow, and I will add footage of her helmet explaining why she gave it to me, and what the damage is to it. You will see why that helmet really did save her life. If you are subscribed to the YouTube channel it will show up in your subscriptions tomorrow. I will try to post a short promo video to Instagram to let you know it is up as well. I still need to make a promo video for that video up there. I think this one is going to be different from the usual clip video. hope to have it up by the time you are reading this. I will try my best to write a Sunday Post and add the new video there, but if I don't have power and internet it will have to wait until all those things are back in my life.

     That brings me to the storm that is knocking on my door. It doesn't look good for me right now. The latest trajectory path has the eye going up through the center of the state. That puts me right on the Northeast side of the storm, which is the worst place to be. That is where all the tornado activity is, and that is right where it is lining up as of 5 o'clock this evening. The next big update comes at 9 tonight, it is 7 o'clock right now. I have a plan, and that plan is to record as much footage during the storm that I can. If everything goes well, I will make a video of all that and the aftermath of the storm as I ride around, and then I will post that as soon as I can. You will see exactly what I see. It could be really great, and it could be something from your nightmares. I'm going admit this right now. I have lived through these storms my whole life. I don't even remember how many I have been through. This one, has me concerned. It is big, and it is powerful. Those are two things you don't want in a storm. I want small and weak, but that isn't going to happen this time. There are still a few more days before it gets here, and that is plenty of time for that trajectory to change. I'm hoping for the best, but expecting the worst. I have everything I need: water, canned food, flashlights, power bank to keep my phone charged, and lighter to get the small grills I have. I may go out tomorrow to see if I can find a few more things, but I don't think stores will have much of anything. They didn't have much on Wednesday when I went around, so I'm not expecting much for tomorrow.

     Last but not least, is my family in Houston. They fared pretty well. They all survived the storm. They have quite a bit of flood damage to their homes and other things, but they are going to be ok, and they are already contacting me to see how I'm prepared for Irma. Their turn was last week, so it looks like it's my turn this week. My brother did send me this picture that he took while driving around his neighborhood after Harvey passed through.

     Yes, that is a big old gator swimming through the streets. That is just something you don't see evert day. Well, that is all I have for you tonight. I will try my best to keep you posted about everything going on, but it may only be through Instagram until I get power back on. I'm expecting to lose power on Saturday, that would be in line with when I lost power when Matthew passed by last year. I lost it a day before the storm even arrived. Where I live, we always lose power, it is just a matter of when it will happen. Oh, one last thing. If you haven't done so yet, try to donate to a worthy cause that is helping out the victims of Harvey. A lot of people are still displaced from that storm, and there are even more new problems each day as a result of it. Please do what ever you can, even if it's donating your time to a local organization that is sending things to the Houston area. Every little bit helps out. That could also be your RAK for the month. You would be killing two birds with one stone. I've never liked that saying, but I don't know another one that works.

     Peace in and goodnight.