How To Really Confuse Someone.

     I called it. I walked in to work this morning, and found out that I am off tomorrow. I knew it was coming, despite the best effort of the second shift messing things up. They had one of the machines go down on them, and it just happened to be the most important machine running. This lead to a nice little series of events, yesterday morning. Remember when I told you about the plant manage throwing a chair around the other day, well, first thing Wednesday morning I walked in, and one of my coworkers told me that second shift messed up one of the machines, and the PM was angry. I asked him flippantly, when wasn't he angry. About a minute after that, he roared around the corner and started angrily yelling at me about what he wanted me to do. I stopped him mid sentence, and told him that he was going to have to bring his tone down a bit. I was completely aware that that was probably the worst thing to do to someone that has anger issues, but I was feeling good, and no one was going to mess up my day. He turned a death stare on me, and asked if what he wanted done was too much for me. I off course said no. I was going to get everything he wanted done, I just wanted a different tone coming from him. Mind you, I hadn't even clocked in yet, and wasn't on the clock. I started to go off on me again, I just looked him in the eye, told him that it was going to get done, and that he needed to get rid of the aggression and anger at me. We would get through the day, just like any other day. I think that broke him. He wanted to be furious, but he didn't know how to do it after that. It made what was starting out as a great day for me, into an even better one.

     Anyway, with that machine being down, we had to make up the difference on what it was running, and you would think that would extend our week, but the machine got going again, just like I said it would, and we managed to get it all done by today, which meant that our week was shortened. All in all, I'm not that upset by it. I said a couple of weeks ago, that I had already planned for this anyway, so I'm just going to enjoy the down time tomorrow and relax.

     I learned something new today. I thought you said that you should always learn something new? I did, and I do, but this was one of those interesting things that I'd never known. I learned this from my ukulele teacher, who is now becoming my guitar teacher. I worked on the guitar today again, and I'll get to that in just a bit as well. I mention that I had looked at a few guitars online and narrowed it down to two of them. they are both Gibson guitars. I don't know much about guitars, but I do know Gibson, and I chose these two more on appearance than anything else. They vary in price from expensive to a little more expensive. I will have to save the money up for either one of them, but what I learned. My teacher was telling me of the difference between Gibson and Fender guitars. I also look at Fender. Basically they are vastly different. Gibson has more of a deep melodic tone, where a Fender has a more high pitched twangy tone. Gibson did everything to go at that sound as well. The wood the chose the scale of the neck, all of it was for that deep tone. Fender on the other hand, did everything to accentuate that high pitched twangy tone. They have a longer scale on the neck, and the woods for the body have a higher pitched natural tone. I was blown away by this. I thought a guitar was a guitar. I knew that different woods had different tone qualities and all that, but I figured like with my ukuleles, that they could do different sounds and such, but that isn't the case. A Gibson has a specific sound that they are looking for, and the same for a Fender. I can appreciate that. Gibson is definitely the guitar for me though. I like the deeper richer tones, and from what he was telling me, Gibson is a brainless choice when it comes to that. He also said that if I ever had to get rid of it, it wouldn't be hard to sell, cause people are always clamoring fora Gibson. When I get closer to buying one, I'll fill in the details a little more on what one I'll be getting.

     On to the music. I was thinking of a song last week that we could work on with the guitar, but for some reason, it just wouldn't come to me. Today, I remembered what it was. It's a little song by the band Yes, called Round About. If you think you haven't heard it, i'm going to tell you that you probably have, you just don't recognize the name. Don't worry, I'm going to post a video of it, so that you can take a lesson. This song is rather technical, and a bit overachieving on my part, but I think I can do it. We went through the intro and the first couple of bars today, and it wan't as difficult as I thought it would be. Anyway, here is the song.



     There is a lot going on in just the first few bars of that song, and it only gets more involved as you go along. This is going to be fun. That's all I have for now. I'll let you know how the prelim photoshoot goes on Sunday. I'll take a few shots of my own to share with you. the full shoot is supposed to be on the 20th. That one, I don't know if I will be able to get shots, since a model is going to be involved. I'll have to get her permission to post anything. Next weekend is the Parrotheadfest that we are doing in lue of going to the Jimmy Buffett concert. Tickets were way to expensive, so we decided to have our won concert, by listening to the broadcast of that very concert. In case you wanted to listen as well, you can go here. Just click on that link on Saturday night the 13th around, I believe 7:30 and you will be listening along with us. I did get to see him live once, and it was a great show. I hope to see him live again someday, but I might have to sell a kidney to get there. Peace in and goodnight.

A Rant And A Rave.

     I want to start this a little different tonight. It's going to be a bit of a rant about a company I ordered something from. On March 12 I ordered a couple pair of shoes from Stellar Kicks. I went against my better judgment on this one, and ordered despite the fact that it was a company selling knock-off Chucks. They had a neat design and that was the only place you could get them, and they had them marked way down. When I finished the order process, they posted a small note that said it would take 28 days for delivery. I thought this was a small joke until I saw the shipping notification 8 days later. The origin of the order was in China. That's right they shipped out of China on March 20th. This is clearly one of those companies that opens up shop and then runs to a different name a little later after they've sold their product. I can't tell you if the product is any good or not, because I still haven't gotten it. Today is May 2nd which makes it well over 28 days that they said it would take. When I checked the tracking today, which I had stopped doing for a couple of weeks now, it said that it was "On Route". No change from what was on their the first day that it was available. Here is my recommendation, if you see Stellar Kicks come up on something you are looking at, and you get the idea to order something from them, don't. Shut the page down and move on. They may just have a great product, but it will take you forever and a day to get it. In truth, I am more upset with myself for ordering from them, than the order not being here yet. I knew it was a bad idea, and I did it any way. Live and learn.

     Now that that is over with, let's move on to bigger and better things. I have that preliminary photo shoot this weekend for Saki. The forecast is calling for clear skies, which is much better than it has been thus far this week. It has rained both days, and that means Saki has been stuck in the garage. Tomorrow looks promising though. We'll will see though. Oh, while on the subject of weather, it looks like I may have to cancel my Friday plans. Not because I'm working, I'm still pretty sure that I will be off, but because the forecast is calling for storms on Friday. The park isn't that fun when there is inclement weather about.

     I had another small shock when I weighed in today. Today is of course my late in the day weigh in, which is after I've been eating and drinking all day. I came in just a pound over Saturday's weigh in. That means that I've probably lost a bit more weight, and next Saturday should tell the tale on that. I usually weigh in any where from 3-5 pounds heavier on Tuesday's, so if that holds up, I've lost another 3 pounds, which would put me at my lowest weight since 2007 I believe. Everything is going in the right direction, and when I up my workouts, It will be a tremendous boost to the weight loss. If I keep up this pace, I should hit my goal weight by next month. As of Saturday, I needed to lose another 13 pounds. Doesn't seem like a whole lot, but in order to do it right, you should average about 1 1/2 pounds a week. If you lose too fast, you run the risk of malnutrition, sagging skin, and even more severe health problems. The goal weight is just a goal and I cold even surpass it. This isn't a diet, this is a lifestyle change. I've overhauled my eating habits, which even includes my stop to alcohol. My food choices are more about energy as opposed to satisfaction, and the strange thing about that is, that I feel more satisfied now, then I did before. I feel good, my disposition has even gotten better, not that I had a bad one to begin with, but I don't get mad at things any more. Take today for instance. The plant manager had one of his episodes where he threw things around. One of the things was a chair, that I needed to run a machine when I could get to it. Instead of getting mad about that, and storming over to get the chair, I left it where he tossed it. I just let it slide off my back and found a stool to use instead.

     I can't say that what I am doing would work for you, but I can tell you one thing. You have to make a commitment to a complete change. It can't just be something that you are going to do temporarily in order to get a quick fix. A quick fix is just that. It won't last. If you start down a path, you have to stick to it or face the same scenery that you have always faced. Change your point of view.

     It's that time again. Favorite Song of the Week. This is another new one from a band that has been around for a little while. The released this song last week and it was a small precursor to the sale of tickets for a new tour starting this fall. I of course managed to get a pre-sale code, but alas they are only coming to Tampa on their one Florida date, and it is on a Sunday night. Not that I would have found anyone to go anyway. The good news though, is that I got to see this band in Colorado the first time I went out there. It was a good show. The new album is titled MAN I A, and yes it's spelled just like that. I pre-order it, and that is how I got the pre-sale code for  the shows. When you watch the video, make sure that you really watch it. They added the lyrics at the bottom, so you can know the story they are telling, but the video tells an even more distinct one. The ending might just open your eyes to a few things. Here is Fall Out Boy, with their newest song "Yound and Menace".



     One last thing before I call it a night. I mentioned a motovlogger in my last post by the name of Rosie Gabrielle. Late Monday evening, she posted a new video on her channel, and it is just as remarkable as her other ones. I hope that you took the time to watch a few of them. If not, take a look at the Channel Trailer of hers that I posted in the last entry, then go to her channel and take a look at her latest video at the very least. It's good stuff. Peace in and goodnight.

Find The Beauty In The World.

     It was an uneventful weekend, which is a good thing, but leads to not having much to write about. I woke up on Friday with nothing planned or anything to do. I didn't head out until later in the day, so that I could stop off and get lunch, but I ended up not doing it. I decided instead to make my own lunch/early dinner, and make it much healthier. When I make my steak on my "fast" day during the week, I actually make two of them. The first one I had with the broccoli, and this one, I just simply reheated and made some rice to go along with it. I know, my life is overly exciting.

     Saturday was much of the same, but I ended up going shopping at the local hardware store for a few things that I needed for the Ultimate Motorcycle Garage. I'm still working on it, slowly but surely. I bought a new utility knife with blades, and a couple of pairs of locking pliers. They are quite essential to any garage, and I only had one old rusty pair sitting around. I also picked up a rubber mallet, for those times when I need to bang on Saki but don't want to damage anything. There are a bunch of things that I will eventually need, and one of them is a motorcycle lift. I have my eye on one at Harbor Freight. It is on sale right now for $100 dollars off, and I would buy it, but I don't have enough things cleared out of the garage to have a place to put it. I'm going to have to wait on it, but that was the plan anyway. That will probably be the final piece of the puzzle anyway. With the front end stand in place, I have everything I need to do some proper maintenance on Saki. The lift wold just make things much easier, because I could raise the entire bike to a level that I wouldn't have to duck down and bend over, or slide under. That will happen, but at a later time. Right now it is more important to get rid of things that I don't need, and get things in that I do need.

     Once I clear the things I don't need, the first big thing to get in the garage is a workbench. I have one already picked out from Harbor Freight. The have a nice small bench that has a couple of drawers for storage of tools, as well as a peg board to hang things from, plus it has power outlets and and LED light on it. It's perfect for what I need, and is real cheap at $99 dollars. Once that is taken care of, I need to get some lounge type seating for me in there, and I'm going to go with a fan until I can get an air conditioning unit in there. It will be cheaper, and still cool me off while I'm working in the garage, especially when I have the door closed. The AC unit will come into play once I start fine tuning things in there and getting the media center up and running.

     Yesterday, while perusing the ol' Youtubes, I came across a channel for a female motovlogger. I'mm always on the lookout for female riders that vlog, mainly because I want to see the female point of view, and I also want to see more women riders out there. This one that I came across was unique. She is doing her mototvlogging while riding bikes around the world. The first one I watched was her going on her first ride with her new bike in Oman, which is in the Arabian Peninsula. This new bike was one that she wasn't all the familiar with. It was taller than what she normally rides, and is made for on and off road riding. Pack a bike like that down with equipment to travel for a couple of weeks, and it makes the bike even more unstable. That being said, she was doing a great job until she hit the dirt roads. That is when she had to do some riding that was a little above her skill level. She ended up dropping the bike. Since this is an adventure bike, it is very heavy, add all the equipment to it, and it is even more so. She couldn't lift the bike up. She had to run back down the hill and get to the village that she had just left to get help. She had to wait for the daily prayer until there were people to help her. A couple of men drove her back up the hill and when then arrived, there was an SUV waiting by the bike. Her initial reaction was that they had hit her bike, or that they were taking her gear that she had to leave behind with the bike. She was wrong on both accounts. The gentleman that stopped, turned on her lights so that no one would hit her bike, and then he stood guard over her things. There is a lesson here, and I'm going to get to it, but first I want to share her channel trailer with you.



     Her name is Rosie Gabrielle and she is a freelance photographer and world traveler. The emotion in that trailer is real. I watched a few of her videos and she is a truthful person. She wants the world to be a better place, and she is showing you the beauty that is everywhere. The lesson from above, is not to judge people. Meet them, and learn from them. You might find that you have so much in common with them, because in the end, we all just want to live in peace.

      Here is the other thing I got from watching her channel. This is what I want my channel to be like. That is the idea behind the Adventure Time Series. I want to show the things that are out there. The culture around this and other areas. I want to learn and have you learn along with me. I want to show you that there is more out there than you realize. I'm finding this out for myself every time I go on a new adventure. I learned quite a bit at the Navy SEAL Museum, and I hope that I passed some of that on to you. When I can get that channel up and running, I'm hoping to share more of that experience with you. The Instagram Story helps a bit, but that is fleeting and goes away after 24 hours, the channel would be a permanent fixture. There is so much in this world to see, and I want to take you along for the ride to what I can see.

     I know I should stop there, because that was rather dramatic, but I do have one last thing to tell you tonight. Remember when I said, that I felt I was setting up for another big weight loss? I was right. I dropped another 3 pounds this week. Still not where I want to be, but heading in the right direction, and the mirror is agreeing to it. This is all still part of a first phase. I get my nutrition locked down, and when I het the plateau that is coming, I enact phase two. Phase two takes more of a physical demand. I start adding things to my workouts to shock the system. I won't go into all the boring details here, but this is working, and I'm loving, not only the way I'm looking, but also the way I'm feeling. I still haven't had a drink of alcohol, although I did really think about it for the first time on Friday night. I started saying to myself that I could go and just have two, but I know myself all too well, and two turns into 5 real easy, so I didn't go.

     That's all I have for now. I'm going to make the prediction now, that I will be off on Friday, and if that is so, I think I will head over to Universal again. My bill paying day is Friday, so I will do all that Thursday night, and get it over with, so that I'm free and clear for another month. Peace in and goodnight.

Saki Can Fly.

     Ok, so this is one of those rare times when I write the title first. That title would lead you to believe that Saki has taken wing, but there is a little exaggeration going on there. Saki is in fact, floating in the air tonight, with the assistance of the rear wheel stand, and the brand new Pitbull front wheel stand. I finally broke down and bought it. I will eventually get a matching Pitbull rear wheel stand, but the one my ukulele teacher gave me, will do just fine for now. More on my ukulele teacher later. I took a couple of pictures of Saki up in the air, so you can get an idea of what I'm talking about.

The first one is of course the front view, so you can see the new stand in all of it's glory. The second is so you can see that both tires are off the ground. This is going to help me out with a lot of things when I work on Saki, and even when I air up the tires. Before this, I would have to roll Saki back and forth to get the front tire valve in the right spot so that I could get to it, and it's still not that easy. I have a giant front disk brake on there, and it isn't all that easy to get around.

     It actually took me a little longer than it should have to figure out how to get Saki up on the new stand. It turns out, that there was a small rubber bushing or stopper, that I had to pull out o the triple tree in order to put the adapter for the stand in. From now on though, it will be a much simpler process.

     I mentioned earlier this week, that my ukulele teacher wanted me to start working on the guitar. This week was the first time I was going to be getting in a little full scale six string action. Since I didn't have to carry the ukuleles with me, I was able to ride Saki to my lesson. My teacher wanted to see everything I had done to the bike in person. He has a slightly older model, but hasn't really done much to it, so I think he was looking for some ideas. When he was finished with the lesson that is right before mine, he came out, and asked if the bike was outside. I said yes, and he ran out the door to go look at it. I think he fell in love. He showed me a picture of his bike, and it is very similar to Saki, so he could do pretty much everything I have done, and make it look very much the same. His paint scheme is slightly different, but it's still the red and black. I think it is even the same candy persimmon that Saki is, so all the levers and things that I've gotten would work with his as well. Talking about this just reminded me, that I was supposed to email him a link to my levers. I think I'll do that right now while it is on my mind.

     Ok, I got that out of the way. After he looked over the bike, we went in, and started grinding on the ax. That's super cool guitarist lingo to say that we played guitars. He asked me if I wanted to keep the lingo an terminology real, or to translate as it relates to ukulele. I wanted to keep it real, and besides, it would all translate once I dropped below the fifth fret. That is where I tenor ukulele scale starts. If I was to capo the fifth fret of a guitar it would be nearly the same as playing a ukulele, as long as I kept to the top 4 strings. If you have never played guitar, this is going to sound very strange to you. As you are looking at a guitar in someone's hands, the top four strings are the bottom four strings. Sounds strange right? I still haven't really figured out why it is that way, nor have I asked, but if I had to take a wild guess at it, I would say it is that way, because when the player looks down at their own strings, it is all reversed. The top is the bottom, and the bottom is the top. Even as I typed that, it didn't make any sense to me, so I'm sure that you are more confused as ever. Here is something easy though. That same capoed guitar, is exactly the same as my guilele. Except for the fact that it is much longer and heavier. What does all of this lead to? Well I'll tell you. It leads to me starting to do research on buying an electric guitar. Don't worry, I'm going to tie all of this into the Ultimate Motorcycle Garage. Remember that media area I was talking about? That is where the guitar and amp could be. I could serenade Saki.

     Yes, even I know that it's starting to get a bit weird at this point. Enough about all that though. As I predicted, I'm off tomorrow. I have no plans for this weekend, so I think I'm going to start that whole reading of books thing. I'll start by finishing that one book, and starting the second one, so that when the third one comes along, I will be kind of ready for it. Let the reading begin.

     I have made a final decision on the next adventure, which by the way, I have decided to all the Adventure Time Series. Well, it will start with that, and then there will be another part which says where I went. I'm coming up with this stuff, so that when I finally start doing a motovlog, I can spin this into that very easy. I'll just use the same title for both, and save myself the brain melt of trying to come up with multiple titles. I still have to work out all the details of the ride and what not, but on May 28th you will see the next installment of the Adventure Time Series, or whenever you get around to reading it. Technically it will be ready around 10-11 PM on that Sunday night. You may have noticed, that I haven't said where I'm going on this next adventure. That is because I'm not going to say. I'm going to let the suspense build and you will find out the location when you read it, or if you watch the Instagram Story that I post on May 27. That's cheating though and you would never do that.

     Well, I need to get up and do some reading tomorrow, so I better get to sleep. Peace in and goodnight.

Hard Times

     I've given up on anyone giving me a preference for what they want to see next in the adventure series. I'll announce on Thursday which one will be, or maybe I won't, Maybe I'll just wait until May 28th to write about it, and you will find out then. Either way, you will know on Thursday which way it is going to be.

      I forgot to tell you, that I have a preliminary photoshoot for Saki coming up on May 6th. The photographer wants to get some shots to get an idea of what he can do with his model when she shows up on the 20th. He wants to hit the area around the same time we will be shooting a few weeks after, so that the light will be similar. That is of course assuming that the weather will be exactly the same. I'll of course let you know how it all goes, and I'll even get some shots myself so that I can share them on here. I'm still not sure if he is going to share any of his photos with me or not. We will have to talk about that when we meet up on the 6th.

    I already get the feeling that I will be off again this Friday. I've already planned for this, in the way of my finances and all that good stuff. What I haven't planned is what to do. I know that I said that I was going to take advantage of my Universal pass, but I just can't go every week, that would be rather cost ineffective. I don't have to spend money when I go, unless I want something to eat. I can always hit the water fountains for water, but the fuel cost in going over every week isn't something I want to spend. So, I'll sit out this week, but in the meantime, what to do. I of course will ride Saki, but other than that, I can't think of much. I have been thinking about getting back to reading more, and I have several books lined up that I just haven't made the time for. Maybe this Friday will be a good time to start making that time. I just found out yesterday that I will have a new book in a series that I am reading coming, I believe next week, so I need to get reading, because I am one book behind on that.
I need to immerse myself in those worlds of fantasy again. I know that I do that with the Audible books when I am at work, but it really isn't the same as holding a book in your hand, and just falling into it. Go pick up a good book and give it a try, you'll understand what I'm taking about.

     If you couldn't tell, I really didn't have any set plan for what to write tonight. I honestly hadn't given it much thought during the day, with the exception of one thing. That would be Favorite Song of the Week. I picked it out early this morning. I heard this song only a few days ago, and it falls in line with a good FSOTW. It's from a band that has been around for a little while, and has gone though some big changes over the years, but the core is still there, and I think they are writing better songs now, than they did early on. A stunning red-head with an amazing voice leads the helm, and is the real driving force behind the band, if it wasn't for Haylee Williams, I don't know if the band would still be around. That's only conjecture on my part, but I do believe it. They have a new album coming out, which you can pre-order if you so desire, with a new single that they released about a week ago or so. That is the video I'm going to play for you today. Now before you try to correct me on Haylee's hair color, because of the video, I just want you to know, that you are wrong. Let's just leave it at that.  Here is Paramore with "Hard Times".



     That was fun. Well, I'm off to bed, so that I can start my "fast" day off right. By not eating in the morning and then regretting this whole idea by 8 in the morning when I am stating to think about taking my lunch break and realizing that I have nothing to eat. Well, I have some dice pineapple for my lunch, but that really isn't enough at all. As a matter of fact, it is only 70 calories in all, and that is all I will have until I eat dinner around 4 or so. I will have a steak and broccoli at that point, which will add another, I think 350 calories. Probably less. That will be it for the day. I will survive, I've done it for a few weeks now. I did weigh in today, and it would seem like a setback, because I weighed in at the same weight as last week, but that is not how I look at it. Water weight fluctuates all over the place, and that is what I am probably looking at today. I could be setting up for another big loss here soon. I will have to start doing a few more things soon, to start shocking my system. I won't add another "fast" day though, that would just be too much. Two days is plenty. I will just have to freak out my circadian clock, by doing things a little different for a while. It's an easy trick to pull off, just do things opposite of when you would normally do them. If you were to say, walk in the evening, you would just simply change it to walking first thing in the morning when you wake up. Little things like that can make a huge difference to your body. Anyway, back to that whole going to sleep thing. Peace in and goodnight.

Universal And Other Adventures.

     This was a good weekend. I hit Universal on Friday, and had a great time, even though I was alone. I didn't take any pictures with characters, for the simple reason that I thought it was too weird, even for me. Wait, I did get one picture with a "character", We looked oddly similar, so it was fitting. We could be related in some way. This was at the end of the day, and I was bored while eating, so I figured this was a good picture to take. This was part of my Instagram Story that I did for the day. I hope that you got a chance to see it. If you didn't, you are out of luck, because it is gone. A little something before we get into the park itself.

     I hit the bank in the morning before heading over to Orlando. I walked in in a tank top and shorts, and the bank teller looked at me, and paused. Then she smiled and asked why I wasn't on the motorcycle. I told her I was heading to Universal for the day, and the bike would have to wait. She said she was shocked and couldn't remember not seeing my in my "biker jacket". This all makes me think that I truly have made an impression on her. This was all while I was still in line. She was working the drive-thru, so I didn't make to her window. Should I ask her out? I'm still wary of the whole thing. Things like this never work out for me, so I am giving pause when thinking about asking her to go out for dinner or something.

     After that, it was off to Universal, which has it's own exit now. Made it real convenient to get too. There wasn't a huge crowd of people, but there were some high school groups roaming around, which clogged things up a bit, but was still way more manageable than any normal day there. I rode the new Jimmy Fallon ride first. It's called Race Through New Your featuring Jimmy Fallon. The line was really short, and I made it into the "Lobby" in 5 minutes. Once you are in, you get a ticket and then go to the staging area where you watch a small video feature form The Tonight Show. It is mostly the skit he does as a high school girl called the Ew Show or something like that. When the lights turn the color of your ticket, you are allowed to enter the ride. The ride is very similar to Shrek 4D, in that you sit in theater seating. In this one, you are the audience of The Tonight Show, but you have to imagine that you are in a vehicle called the Tonight Rider. You do have to put a seatbelt on, and you are locked down with it. The entire seating area moves around as if you are driving in the Tonight Rider, as you travel through New York City at break neck speeds. Then all of a sudden you get launched into outer space and onto the moon. I know, that has nothing to do with New York, but it worked for the ride. You end the ride racing through the halls of The Tonight Show studio, and you, well I'll leave the final ending to you to go see for yourself. The ride was much better than I thought it was going to be for a simulator. Usually those types of rides beat the snot out of you, and leave you with a headache. This one, although herky jerky, was rather smooth, and left you feeling satisfied. It was a fun ride. If I had to wait a half hour, I'd say that was the limit of time that you would want to wait to ride it. Any more than that, and it might not be as enjoyable.

      This day was about hitting some of my favorites as well as rides that I've never gotten to ride, for one reason or the other. I hit The Mummy, Grningot's, The Simpson's, and the Hogwart's Express twice. The video that goes on out the windows is different depending on whether you are going to Hogsmeads or Diagon Alley. It's really great and relaxing. I was going to ride The Hulk, but I had to put all my stuff in a locker and I didn't feel like doing that.  I also achieved my goal, and got my socks, and a couple of other things. They had two different pair of socks, so I got both of them, a Hufflepuff Team Quidditch Captain shirt, and a Death Eaters tank top, became who doesn't need a Death Eaters Tank top. Yeah I spent a little more money than I had planned too, but these will make for good Universal going outfits whenever I go back. I do think that I'm going to make the most of my days off when they happen and go to the park as long as my pass is valid. I haven't decided whether I'm going to renew or not. I do really like it over there, but it isn't a necessity. I'm not sure how much time is left on my pass, but I believe that it is soon, so I will have to make that decision then. I did find out, that in order to use my pass for the new water park, that they just built, called Volcano Bay, you have to upgrade for the cost of $99. Not sure if I'm going to upgrade when and if I renew. That would just be one more thing that I go to alone.

     I have a few pictures of the park to share with you, so I'll just leave those here. I'll be back with you shortly.

 The first one is the entrance to Hogsmead, with of course Hogwarts right next to it. The bottom picture is what you seen once you enter Diagon Alley. Gringotts is at the end of the street with a large fire breathing dragon on top. I didn't get the fire breathing in the picture, I was on my way out when I remembered to get a picture, and it wasn't time for the display. I think it breathes fire every 15 minutes, or there about. It starts with a low rumbling, there is a pause of about 10 seconds then a loud roar, and the fire. It is quite thrilling to see, and even better than that, is all the people standing around the entire place, holding their phones up to get a picture at the right time.

     There was one last ride that I had to hit. It is more of a show than a ride, and it is one of my favorites. The Horror Make Up Show, is fun and fantastic, and I always try to see it. The script hasn't really changed in all the years they have been doing it, so I pretty much can do it word for word. As I started walking over the area that it was, I heard them making a "last call" for the Terminator ride. It was only 5 o'clock. Something was a foot. I started getting a little worried, that I wouldn't get to see my show. My worries were confirmed as I got closer. The park was closing for the day. I think they were having the Rock the Universe festival or whatever you call it. It's a series of concerts performed by Christian artists. They close the park and only leave the area open around the band shell. I was a little bummed and then I realized that I was going to have to drive home through rush hour traffic. h great.

     Somehow I managed to get home with little delay. This left me with plenty of time to change and go out for a ride on Saki. To get the day back in line, I needed to end with the perfect shot of Saki. Melvin was in charge of this, so if it doesn't look good, you can blame him. I did end up with two shots that I liked. One with the flash and one without. You can pick your favorite.

I don't have a favorite out of the two, because I li ke them both for different reasons. It was only short ride Friday night, but it felt good to be on Saki after walking around the park for the whole day.

     Saturday was for a more in-depth ride. I'm still trying to figure out the destination for the next adventure. Still would like your help on this. Which would you want to see more, KSC, or the McLarty Treasure museum? Anyway, If I choose the Space Center, I need to check out a route, so that was my main goal on Saturday. I went out on a road that I discovered a few weeks ago, and it will be a nice relaxing way to KSC. I will have to fudge with the route a bit more, but that will be a great last few miles to the Space Center. It runs parallel to the main road, but has overgrown trees that canopy the road, and a few areas that are just barren, and that means fun. I've asked a few friends if they want to go with me, and one of them has made their preference known, and that is going a long way to my decision. No, I'm not going to let you know their preference. You'll have to wait and see. I do plan on make my final decision by this weekend though, so you won't have to wait long.

     After seeing exactly where that road went, I needed to hit the twisties near the airport. I wanted to work on my body position when cornering, and that is the best place to do it. When I talk about body position, if you take a look at the picture to the left, you can see Valentino Rossi. Notice how he is hanging off the side of the bike and it is leaning over? Well that is what I'm talking about. I was working on getting that hang time. It's called knee dragging. I'm nowhere close to that lean angle, but I started feeling comfortable in the hang and the lean. In order to get that hang, you have to position yourself on the seat. With each turn, you need to move your butt to the side of the seat that you are turning on. You are basically sitting half on and half off the seat. It's a little sketchy at first, but after a few turns, you start getting the feel for it, and then it begins feeling far more natural than just sitting on the seat and leaning the bike over. There is a reason for doing this, and that is so that the center of gravity of the bike shifts, so that the bike doesn't have to lean over quite as far. Now I know that the picture above would lead you to believe that that isn't the reason, but trust me, it is. You have to realize that he is going about 75+ MPH in that turn. The faster you go, the more lean you have, so in the end, the more you can help the bike by letting it lean less, the better. If he didn't hang off the bike, and have that lean angle, he would have to take that corner much slower. I need a lot more practice, but it was definitely feeling good.

     It was a great weekend. I got to do a bunch of things that I wanted to, and I didn't wait for other people to have to come along to do them. It was lonely, but good, and I know that I can do that any time that I want to now. Peace in and goodnight.

Don't Let That Stop You.

     My allergies have been killing me today. I still managed to get everything done that I needed to get done though. I'm off again tomorrow, and I have a plan. I got my Universal Annual Pass a year or so ago, and it's going to expire soon. All those people that said they were going to go to the park with me, have never shown up to go. That leaves me with an underutilized pass, so I'm going to start using it while I still can. Tomorrow is going to be Universal day. I'm just going to go and hangout there for much of the day. Ride a few rides, walk around and see the sights that there are to see. They have one new ride, I despise the commercial for it, but I'll give it a go to see what it's all about. It's the Jimmy Fallon ride. Here is the commercial just so you can suffer along with me.


I have no idea what that has to do with the ride, but if that is in the ride, I'm going to jump out of the car and hopefully kill myself. My luck though, is that it is one of those rides that stands still but makes you feel like you are moving. So I will only land flat on my face, and still have to sit through that horrible thing.

     They have the Simpson's ride there as well, and I've never ridden that, so that will be on my short list for the day as well. This will actually be a pretty good test for me. One of my favorite things to do when I went there in the past, was to go to Margaritaville around lunch time and have lunch with a couple of boat drinks. I still haven't had a drink in I think 15 weeks now, or maybe it's going to be 15 weeks on Saturday. I'm not really sure at this point, and I don't really want to take the time right now, to figure it out, so we will just call it 15 until further notice. Also on my short list, is to finally buy a pair of Hufflepuff socks. I was sorted into Gryffindor on the Pottermore website, but I chose Hufflepuff when I picked out my pass holder lanyard. Everyone wants to be in Gryffindor because of the movies, and I get that. It's nerdly cool that I got selected into that house on the site, but secretly, or maybe not so secretly, I want to be Hufflepuff. Hufflepuffs are caring and generous, and I like to think of myself that way, so even though I'm Gryffindor, in my heart, I'm Hufflepuff. That being said, I'm getting a pair of knee high Hufflepuff socks tomorrow, and that is final. I think I will spend a lot of time in Diagon Alley. It's just really fun. I'll get pictures and share them with you on Sunday.

     I'm thinking about one other thing to do while I'll I"m there. I have an idea to go around and see if I can get a picture with all of the characters that wander the park. That just seems to me like a  very weird, fun, and funny idea. I'll be by myself, so I'm going to have to get strangers to take the pictures for me. Hey, at worst, I get to meet a bunch of new people. If I do that, I'll share those pictures as well. Keep in mind, that I hate having my picture taken.

     I'm putting more and more thought into this motovlogging thing, and it is seeming to be a better and better idea. I watch quite a few motovloggers, and they post several times a week. I don't think I will ever do that, but once a month or so, would be about the frequency that I would do it, and I think I can make that happen once I get and figure out all the equipment. As I said before, it would be the adventures that I go on once a month to random places. I think it could be a lot of fun, and would really add to what I write up about it here. This could be a tandem thing. I can post the video up, and then embed it here with the write up about it. What do you think? Great idea or no? Which reminds me, you still haven't told me where you want me to go on the next adventure. KSC or McLarty Treasure Museum?

     In ukulele class tonight, we worked on Cyndi Lauper's Time After Time. We were getting the melody and all that good stuff in. My teacher wants me to jump up to guitar. It's a little intimidating to me. Even though I've basically been playing guitar on a smaller scale with the guilele. The thing that would work to my benefit is, that I wouldn't have to take anything into class with me. He has several electric guitars there that he would let me use. I could ride Saki to class, and that is very appealing to me. I think I will give it a go next week, so we will see. It will either destroy any confidence I have, or give me more. There is an added bonus to this as well. It would be one more instrument that I could play, and I am a strong believer in learning new things.

     I've always said to people, learn something new each day, and I've tried to do that. This would be one more thing that I've learned. This is really just a bad segway into talking about a little phrase that I heard someone say yesterday in a podcast. It was a former MMA fighter turned stuntman, turned actor, turned podcast host, turned comedian. He heard the phrase form and aloud stuntman at an awards show, and I really liked what it was. He said, "Never let your memories get bigger than your dreams.". See, I told you it was a bad segway, but it worked. It basically means to not live on your past accomplishments, always strive to do something new, and that goes right back to my, learn something new each day. It all comes around, and you didn't thing it was going to happen. This is also something that I talk about from time to time here. Don't give up on your dreams. Frank Baum didn't write the Wizard of Oz books until he was in his 40's. You are never out of time to do something new and exciting in your live. All you need to do, is find the thing that is holding you back, and break through that. That in itself, is learning something new. It all works hand in hand, so never let your memories get bigger than your dreams. Peace in and goodnight.