Parks closed. Moose out front shoulda told ya.

Time for a major update! Well, just a long one, I guess.

We had a pretty good holiday weekend. We slept in on Friday (of course). That evening we drove to the inlaws for some supper and fireworks. Glenda's mom and dad had fixed quite a spread! There was a big pan of grilled ribeyes, a big pan of grilled chicken, baked beans, squash casserole, loaded baked new potatoes, chips with bean dip, and garlic bread. I stuffed myself silly. Then to top it off, we had homemade vanilla ice cream with Oreo Bon Bons in it. Awesome! Afterwards, we watched the kids shoot some fireworks and then headed home. I can't remember if I played some xbox that night or not. I wanted to try and finish GTA4 this past weekend, but I fell short.

Saturday we slept in even later than Friday. I called the neighbors to see if they wanted to come over and eat dinner with us. They have 3 boys, 1, 3 & 5 (I think) and they all came over to eat and hang out. I grilled some burgers and some bacon-wrapped scallops. We also fixed some garlic pasta, mac & cheese for the kids, and some french fries. Then we fired up the Wii for some Wii Sports action. Reg and Danielle were playing baseball, and Danielle was batting. At one point, she swung the WiiMote to hit the ball, and the oldest boy walked in front of her at the same moment. She nailed him in the back of the head and he went down flat on his face! He was ok, but I know it hurt for a few minutes. It was one of those where you know everyone is ok, and then you can't help but laugh but you try not to. They took the boys home to put them to bed, and then Glenda and I went over to their place for some Taboo. We got home about 1:30am, and I played GTA4 until about 4am.

Sunday we slept in even later... then we got up for a few hours and then went BACK to bed. I finally got up around 7:45pm, and didn't go back to sleep at all. We watched "Deja Vu", I played GTA4 for a bit, and I set up my ARCHOS 705 media player with the plug-in to download my DVR'ed shows from my DishNet receiver via the USB port. I copied about 20 hours worth of movies and shows over to it, so it will be ready when I travel this week.

So, I should crash early tonight since I am running out of steam already and it's only 3pm.

I see where the buyer of my Mustang has upped the selling price on his website. I hope that means that he will soon be leaving me positive feedback on eBay since he hasn't bothered to do so yet.

On a sad note, my neighbor Reg sold his motorcycle. While I'm glad for him, because he kept it over a month and made money off of it, I hate it because we had some nice rides together. Three out of the last four Sundays, not counting this past one, we took a night ride. No traffic to dodge, nice and cool compared to the heat of the day, just relaxing all around. I hope he will be able to buy another one soon, but I think he plans to take care of some bills first so it may be a while before I have a riding partner. My other neighbor Justin sold his also, but he is getting ready to move, so I would not have him as a riding buddy much longer anyway.

Wrap up.

Since I've been negligent in updating, I'll do a round up and try to squeeze in what I can remember since the last post.

First thing, I want to congratulate Sal's wife Morgan on her amazing success at a lifestyle change!!! I've tried to make a change before, and it is the hardest thing to stick to. She's lost over 140 lbs! I've never met Sal and Morgan in person, but I hope to one day *cough* Meet n Greet 09! *cough* :)

Last Thursday night, my neighbor and I rode our bikes out to "Bike Night" in downtown Tuscaloosa. After perusing the cool bikes on display, including some custom painted bikes, some Big Dog choppers, many Harley's (one with a cool neon light setup), we went into one of the bars there to grab a beer and shoot some pool. There was a band playing called Handshake Promise. They were playing covers from '80-'90's rock and metal bands (and a couple by The Who), and they were excellent! The singer could wail, and the guitar player didn't miss a note, and they played some tough songs. It was a good night for riding, cool and breezy.

Since that neighbor is moving at the end of June, and my other neighbor that was buying a bike has already moved, I'm pretty pumped that my neighbor across the strret bought a bike. He bought a Suzuki Intuder 800. It's a sharp bike. I'm kind of partial to the way they look for some reason. He has already put it back up for sale, however because he wants to upgrade to an 1100 or 1300cc. We took a ride last night down to Bryant-Denny stadium. It was a good night for riding again. It's just about too hot to ride during the day already...

Mom and Dad have a computer and high-speed internet! Now I can get some MP in while visiting them... ;-) They wanted a new computer since they've received their "stimulus" check, so I ordered them a new Dell and had it shipped to me. I stripped it of some fluff and installed some free apps for them. I took it to them this weekend and set it up and installed their DSL modem. I think they are pretty happy with it. I know my niece loved it as she didn't want to quit playing with it all weekend.

I bought a key fob remote for the Nissan. It was $93, plus programming fee from a dealer. I bought it off of eBay for $9.95 including shipping and looked up the programming directions on the web. That worked out so well, I'm buying Mom a replacement for her Infinity because hers is broken.

I've mailed off the title and registration and Bill of Sale for the Mustang. Only thing left is for the buyer to arrange pick-up. I'm not as sad as I thought, but I have moments where I know I'll miss it. I just hope it goes to someone that will fix it up and take better care of it than I did.

Bye Bye, Love.

The Mustang has been sold. I finished the eBay listing about 8pm last night. Someone called me to ask some questions this morning at 7:15am. I told him what I would accept and he clicked "Buy it Now".

Let's have a moment of silence.

New Ride

Well, I haven't had the time to sit down and create a topical blog every night, or every other, like I wanted. So, I'm going to try a daily update format like my buddies Sal and Casey, with a topical post scattered about. I've enjoyed reading their updates.

So, I somehow convinced Glenda to let me get a bike. We are probably going to start trying to have a baby soon, and I wanted to go ahead and buy that big toy first, or it'd probably never happen. I've found a good deal on our inter-company classified ads. The only problem is that the seller works at one of our plant sites about 7 hrs away. He's agreed to meet me partway. I'm still trying to work out the logistics of getting it home if the weather is bad. I hope to meet him this weekend. The bike is a 2004 Kawasaki Vulcan Classic, 1600cc. It has several extras, including nice saddlebags, a windshield, and Vance & Hines pipes. It only has 5900 miles on it.

Glenda seems interested in riding. I hope it is something that she enjoys so that we can ride together occasionally.

This'll be the biggest bike I've ever driven. 800cc is the biggest I've ridden before.

The plan now is to sell my Mustang (1970 Mach 1, 351 Cleveland). I'll need to change the oil, clean the carburetor and get it ready when spring rolls around. I paid 6k for it, and I've put about $2500 into it. I rebuilt the engine, had the block bored .010 and bought new pistons, new cam, rebuilt the automatic transmission, put on a stall converter and put an edelbrock 850 carb on it. It still needs a little work and TLC (very little) to have a nice Sunday driver. The electrical system needs replacing. It has a serious ground that drains the battery real quick. The timing really needs to be tweaked because it is a bitch to start. The power steering valve has a bad leak also. It needs to be replaced. I just don't have the time, or the drive, to work on it anymore. That is part of the reason for the bike. It is something I can go out and ride and enjoy without spending all of my spare time on maintenance.