dragonmojo

Year of the Tiger

noreply@blogger.com (Alan) — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 05:24:00 +0000

Yo, Chinese New Year is just around the corner, this year belonging to the tiger and coinciding with Valentine's Day. And weather-wise it's supposed to be a decent weekend in my neck of the woods.

The New Idol

noreply@blogger.com (Alan) — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 04:16:00 +0000

Kicked back on my couch, netbook in lap and channel surfing, I see that they've replaced American Idol's Simon Cowell with some other guy. No biggie; not one of the shows I bother to watch.

Is Blogger?

noreply@blogger.com (Alan) — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 05:19:00 +0000

Is Blogger still relevant?

With the popular social networking sites offering their own blogging corner, I'm curious how blogging sites such as Blogger and Wordpress are faring. And yes, this is my first Blogger post for 2010... a month late but Happy New Year nevertheless!

Let's see where we go from here.

Home Stretch

noreply@blogger.com (Alan) — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 03:03:00 +0000

Happy Thanksgiving! That's where we are in 2009... at the end of November with only a month to go before we ring in the new year. The home stretch. Yes, I've left my blogsite languishing; too many other irons in the fire and too many excuses. It's not that I haven't much to rant about, but perhaps it's a feeling of helplessness, hopelessness or haplessness (of being able to effect a change) that has me directing my energies elsewhere. That energy is more or less focused on a few priorities I've identified over a period of introspection: my cats, motorcycling and volleyball. Of course there are incidentals such as art, technology, etc., but back to the point, I've put a finger on it. The 3 biggest irons. And now to figure how best to integrate dragonmojo.com into the current and future scheme of things.

Time for a change... time to turn and face the strain.

Richer or Poorer

noreply@blogger.com (Alan) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 00:31:00 +0000

It is interesting to note that everything in today's society seems to revolve around the almighty dollar. The barometer is set to measure and distinguish the haves from the have-nots. Well, motorcycles are what I have.

Today a volleyball player asked me if I worked with computers, to which I responded in the affirmative. He was with a group of 3 others from his team (during lunch break in an all day tournament), and mentioned that he thought so, seeing that I owned several bikes. The implication is that I worked in the lucrative IT profession and could afford having these in my garage.

Lucrative? IT is such a broad classification where jobs can pay little actually. I'm in a position where I can't complain, although I believe there is potentially more income to be had elsewhere. But the opposite side of that coin is that I could also make considerably less.

Let's talk about what I have not. My house is rather small (at under 1000 sq.ft.) and is an over 50 year old stucco tract home. Everything about my home is crying out for a do-over. I do not have cable or satellite TV or TiVo. No iPod and no iPhone (my old clamshell Sanyo allows me to make calls on my basic plan of about 200 anytime minutes per month). My savings account is rather meager. I have only one suit, and I am not sure that it fits anymore.

But of course there are those who have even less. Housing is rented (as if that's a bad thing), or home is wherever there's a vacant shelter. There are people who are clinging on to their old analog TVs if they even have a TV set at all (but the FCC killed analog now, didn't they?). How about not having any kind of phone or electronic entertainment gadget?

It was interesting that the vball player who asked happens to have retired at an early age. I think it was in real estate, and I'm guessing he was around 50 years old, give or take a couple of years. He owned a Porsche Boxster, is married with kids and a 2-story home in a nice neighborhood. There's a game room with a pool table and big screen TV. He competes in bicycling, and pound for pound, those are expensive machines.

I am more embarrassed being thought of as richer than poorer. To each his own, and I try to minimze the almighty's impact on my own little personal society. Let's just say that I'm somewhere in the middle. There are many who are better off financially than I, while I am blessed to have what I do have, which many have not. I am richer than the poor and poorer than the rich... sacrifices are made in order to accommodate your priorities.

My priority happens to be motorcycles and motorcycling. And my cats.

Viene la Tormenta!

noreply@blogger.com (Alan) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 04:54:00 +0000

An unseasonable storm's a-coming, forecast to dump a couple of inches of rain in the area in just one day. Winds up to 60mph gusts. All this is traced back to the typhoon that hit Japan hard less than a week ago. The worst of this storm will occur around 2:00pm PDT on Tuesday, 10/13/2009 and expected to leave quickly, tapering off by Wednesday afternoon or evening.

Hoping to get through this unscathed.

Fall is Definitely Here

noreply@blogger.com (Alan) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 02:46:00 +0000

We supposedly had a few drops very early Sunday morning, but I wouldn't know it, not getting outside until close to 10:00am. I geared up and rode to Auburn, CA for a quick bite and to read the Sunday paper before heading another few miles to Meadow Vista. Friends were setting up a couple of nets for some pickup volleyball games.

I made sure I bundled up well before leaving the house, but decided to put away my jacket liner after my meal. I figured it was around noon and things have warmed up a bit; also, what's a few miles even if it may still be a little on the cool side? A few miles of a chilly cold ride, once you factor in the windchill factor.

The temps got just above the mid-60s in the foothills, and there was a slight breeze blowing and some patchy cloud cover. Dark, patchy clouds. The occasional rays of sunshine breaking through were warm and welcome. The weather reports dustings of snow up in the mountains, Lake Tahoe included.

I'm just hoping that the storms passing through will subside long enough for a ride next weekend, or the following weekend, to witness the forests' changing colors. But I'm sure the triple digit temps are all behind us now... fall is definitely here.

Home Maintenance

noreply@blogger.com (Alan) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 02:30:00 +0000

The garage too, is an integral part of a home. When I got home from a short, 100-mile ride in the foothills, I parked my bike and proceeded to enter the house. Bang! Uh-oh, something happened in the garage, and I was hoping that it wasn't any of my bikes falling over due to whatever reasons that might cause this. I scanned the garage, but could not see anything out of place. Bikes standing and intact. The roof did not cave in. I pressed the button to the garage door opener, but it would only lift the door a few inches and then drop it back down. I tried to override the opener and lift the rollup door manually, but found that it may require superhuman strength to do so. What the? On closer inspection, I isolated the problem: the tension spring mounted above the garage door opening had snapped in half. So, my bikes were imprisoned in my own garage.

I got on the internet and discovered that there were businesses which offered 24/7 service for garage repairs. I left a voicemail, but since it was late Friday night, I tried again on Saturday morning. They eventually got someone out and had the parts replaced and installed, which wasn't a cheap proposition. But, this spring had a lifetime guarantee (come to think of it, the one that broke came with the house, and I wonder now if it too had a lifetime guarantee?).

Oh the incidental expenses of home ownership... I'm sure there's more to come.

Riding Brotherhood

noreply@blogger.com (Alan) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 23:48:00 +0000

Shyeah, right. My previous rant may have been directed toward the Harley crowd, but by no means am I singling them out. The past week's recap: first it was the cars (the one that tried sharing my lane a week ago... oblivious bay-utch). Then the Street Vibrations mecca and rolling speed bumps. When I left work today, I noticed a small Japanese sportbike parked very close to mine, to the left. I recognize it as also the one that parked very close to my right, months ago. Back then, I was barely able to squeeze out of the parking space and my right saddlebag was left with a slight mar when parts connected. BTW, this is street parking with our rear wheels to the curb.

Well, after getting home I noticed that the lower part of my left saddlebag had black smears on the aluminum lid. Along with an oh-so-slight depression in the thin aluminum skin. I have no doubt as to what had happened. The sportbike had an aftermarket exhaust canister made of polished aluminum, with a black endcap. Evidently, the idiot rider backed the tip of the exhaust canister into my bag while squeezing into the parking space. Since this bike was practically a toy at only 250cc displacement, I'm guessing the rider may be a novice. An idiot nevertheless.

Some polishing compound and elbow grease got rid of the black smears, but there wasn't anything I can do about the slight depressions in the aluminum. So much for the motorcycling brotherhood (but I will still credit fellow riders for choosing two wheels over four... barely, for now).

The urban adventures never cease ::sigh::.

Harley Speed Bumps

noreply@blogger.com (Alan) — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 23:00:00 +0000

The "Street Vibrations" annual motorcycle event was held this past weekend in the Reno, NV area (which extends into the vicinities of Carson City, Virginia City and Lake Tahoe). It ran from Wednesday and ends today. Unfortunately, I had forgotten about this biker party and came to the realization when I headed up the hill toward Lake Tahoe on Friday to grab lunch. I am all for anyone enjoying two-wheeled motoring, whether the machine is made in Japan, Europe or America, but I am beginning to develop quite a distaste for Harley riders.

The Harley-Davidson being the motorcycle of choice is due to a preference to "cruise" (hence the styling description as cruisers). Six hundred or more pounds of iron on a wheelbase stretched over five-and-a-half feet just inches off the ground does not make for a superb handling motorcycle. OK, that's the way you choose to roll, but please, have courtesy for those who prefer otherwise. I'll save my rants against LOUD pipes, booze and lack of protective gear for another time.

Coming up on these riders, I had to weave through the group in order to pass. What ever happened to pulling to the right to let a fellow rider pass on your left within the same lane? Miles later there was a small group of 3 riders I managed to pass, the lead rider appearing to be a blonde, braided ponytailed female rider who may have been oblivious and wandering within her lane. Sheesh. Reminds me of an incident a couple of years ago when about a dozen HD riders spread into both lanes when the single lane road opened up to an extra passing lane. None in the left lane had intentions to pass their slower buddies in the right lane. I had to weave through this group, much like those sci-fi spacecrafts getting around enemy aircraft and debris.

Yup, debris. Or speed bumps.

Motorcycle Madness

noreply@blogger.com (Alan) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 01:47:00 +0000

The madness being a rant, at a motorist in a small sedan (circa '80s?) on my way home from work yesterday. While riding along Hwy160 at 50mph in the center lane (the left lane was soon to disappear at an exit to Del Paso Blvd.), the driver in the adjacent lane to the right begins to merge into my lane... while I was alongside the back third of her car!

I hit the horn button, holding it down when I saw that she was not about to retreat. I slowed so that I would not end up sharing the exact same space and at the exact same time as a vehicle six times heavier than mine. Something about the law of physics in spatial displacement I think, where yours truly would certainly lose out. If I were in a car, there would definitely have been contact.

My GS is by no means a tiny motorcycle. The headlights were on high beam for daytime conspicuity. I wear a bright yellow and black jacket. The horn is not the greatest, but no different than most found on all the current vehicles on the road (I really should think about getting those freight train horns installed!). I chalk it up to being another inattentive, oblivious and idiotic driver that could have contributed to me being another motorcycle accident statistic.

I let the birds fly upon exiting the highway about a mile later... none sooner, since the law of physics still applied... but I'd bet she didn't even notice through that thick cloud of oblivion. Would have been nice if I had a set of blue and red flashers and a siren!

Autumn 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Alan) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 01:45:00 +0000

Officially arrived today at 2:18pm PDT. And we reached triple digit temps here in the Sacramento Valley.

Fall TV

noreply@blogger.com (Alan) — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 03:39:00 +0000

New TV season is almost here, and now that I've gotten back from the gym, I'm on the couch with the TV playing in the background. I checked the online TV guide and see that the season may have already begun. "Bones" is on right now with Cyndi Lauper guest starring as a psychic. Next up is a new episode of "Supernatural".

Just ramblin', since nothing exciting has been happening lately.

Oh Kanye

noreply@blogger.com (Alan) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 06:12:00 +0000

"I am Kanye West, and everyone is entitled to my opinion!"

He may not have said this, but his actions spoke volumes when he interrupted Taylor Swift during her Video Music Award acceptance speech. I don't listen to his music, so I'm guessing that he hasn't been getting enough of the spotlight lately?

Summer's Back

noreply@blogger.com (Alan) — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 04:04:00 +0000

I can't complain about the mild summer we've had (if I am not mistaken, there were relatively few days with triple-digit temperatures). With less than two weeks of summer left, it looks as though it's going out with a bang. Temperatures rising. And why I decided to ride up the hill and spend most of the day in the Tahoe forest. Grabbed lunch at South Lake Tahoe and it was only 75F degrees. The highest daytime temp I encountered in the mountains was 88F, while the lowest was 72F. Riding back down in elevation (it was a 375 mile day!) I saw 95F degrees in the Sierra foothills as late as 6:30pm.

It is just past 9:00pm and we've barely dipped below 90F outside. Yup. It feels like summer's hanging on a bit longer still.

Personal HD Camcorder

noreply@blogger.com (Alan) — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 01:56:00 +0000

Looks like there may be a low- to mid-level HD digital camcorder in my near future. Kodak will be releasing their new Zi8 on the market, which comes in Black, Aqua and Raspberry. I am opting for a conservative Black, although I'm not adverse to the other hues. We are talking 1080p at 30fps.

My main objective will be capturing my many motorcycle excursions in video. Especially the mountain twisties. We shall see how well Kodak's electronic image stabilization works. At this price level I won't hold my breath (since it is still difficult to achieve rock steadiness even with the expensive consumer camcorders). But, the buzz is that it should be better than most.

Or I can always try my hand at porn.

Where Am I?

noreply@blogger.com (Alan) — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 05:15:00 +0000

Trying to determine where I am headed here, online, blogging this personal blog. I've perhaps mentioned before that I feel a need to narrow my focus as to why I'm here. Jerry Seinfeld succeeded with a TV series in the last century that claimed to be a show about nothing, thereby including everything... but I should be so lucky.

Yup, perhaps a bit more focus.

Whale saves diver | KJRH.com

noreply@blogger.com (Alan) — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 06:39:00 +0000

Whale saves diver | KJRH.com

Posted using ShareThis

Hot August Nights

noreply@blogger.com (Alan) — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 04:23:00 +0000

August is around the corner, and we've already experienced a string of 100+ degree temps. However, we will be kicking off the month with high temps in the 80s. Woohoo!

Makes riding under all that protective motorcycle gear a hella more tolerable. The cool delta breezes that come up the Sacramento River from the bay in the evening also helps tremendously.

mpg

noreply@blogger.com (Alan) — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 04:08:00 +0000

I just noticed a TV ad for the new Mazda 3 sedan, which included a blurb claiming 33 mpg on the highway. That led me to thinking, "how optimistic is this figure?". How optimistic are all the gas mileage claims?

I'm guessing not many people keep tabs on their vehicles', but I could be wrong. I keep a small calculator in my truck. My motorcycle has a small computer which does the math. In my youth I was anal enough to have kept a logbook recording every tidbit of information. But I digress.

That 33 mpg was most likely derived from testing in a controlled (and unrealistic) environment. No doubt they all do it. Get me behind the wheel and I can probably return less than 25 mpg (in just as unrealistic conditions, but maybe less so... I've seen how people drive). With the internet at our fingertips, it would be nice to see numbers that reflect real world driving through a collaborative effort much like a wiki database.

But that would seem anal, wouldn't it?

Grass Doubles Volleyball

noreply@blogger.com (Alan) — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 01:39:00 +0000

I ended up playing in a reverse coed grass doubles draw tournament today. That's reverse coed as in male/female doubles partners competing on a women's height net. Draw, as in drawing for partners for each game. I had not originally set out to play, having been asked a week earlier and me declining for various reasons. I woke up a bit later than usual on a lazy Sunday morning, and made my way to the park just to watch and mingle a bit. It was just before noon, and dressed in protective motorcycle gear, I hoped to leave before the heat arrived (forecast for 100 degrees).

As soon as I dismounted and approached the group, I was informed that I arrived in time to sub for a player. My friend John had reinjured his healing calf, and opted not to continue playing. Long story short, I had an enjoyable outing and played 5 games, winning 3 of them. I haven't played any doubles volleyball since last October and felt fine.

I was fortunate that at 6:00 in the evening and temps hovering just below the century mark, I lived just over a mile from the park. It sure gets hot here in the valley!

Cronkite Dead at 92

noreply@blogger.com (Alan) — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 02:23:00 +0000

Let's take a moment to mourn the death of perhaps the greatest journalist who ever lived. And that's the way it is... good night Mr. Cronkite.

Hell

noreply@blogger.com (Alan) — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 06:54:00 +0000

The temps in the area have hit triple digits over the past couple of days (and possibly will for the next couple)... but another cooldown is forecast for the weekend.

Yeah, this week's been hell.

State of the State

noreply@blogger.com (Alan) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 06:52:00 +0000

Downhill spiral. 'Nuff said.

Fast Food Brunch

noreply@blogger.com (Alan) — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 03:19:00 +0000

I'm scarfing down brunch this morning... mid-morning actually, and why it's called brunch... when a woman comes in asking for the manager. Evidently, she had stopped by early a week ago and noone was available at the drive-thru to take her order. Early, as in 5:45am, and this being a 24-hr fast food joint. I understand the inconvenience, but since it's during what I deem an ungodly hour for a Saturday and the restaurant is likely short-handed, the staff needs to take a break at some point. Alas, if I were the customer I may have complained as well.

Word of advice for this woman tho', is to refrain from ranting about how important it was that she has that breakfast. My bet is that those breakfasts are why she is probably 100 pounds overweight. Maybe that's what the restaurant employee was thinking and thought she'd do her a favor?