Good Morning!!!! 63F @ 7:30AM. Partly cloudy. High 78F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph.
Finally some rain in the ten day, a week from today, but for only a few tenths. More over the following weekend, so it's time to start keeping the fingers crossed.
Stay strong, Ed. If your mother's funeral service is anything like my mother's, you'll gain a new appreciation for her life as you meet friends of her's you never new about, gathering to pay their respects and say goodbye to the grand old lady. Perhaps some will come into your life, and things will be better for it.
Good luck with the Jag sale, Drew. Hopefully you can convince someone to apply their overly large tax refund to your cause. I'll be putting two motorcycles on ebay in the next few days in an attempt to do the same.
Sorry to hear about your sore back, Wng. Not funny how things that used to be good exercise now leave reminders that last several days.
Hope you have great weather for your camping trip, Buckeye, and that the kids have as much fun we used to.
That didn't go well. Took a few minutes yesterday before visiting the mechanic again to print out another copy of the demand letter he'd received last May, and draft a short summary restating the April 18 deadline and what he needed to do to meet it. As I'd feared, when I walked into his shop the engine was still sitting under the van and nobody was working on it. The mechanic said something about making sure I had my checkbook with me to pay off my balance when I came to collect the van, so I reminded him that he'd only be paid for the work he's finished and unless he got busy that he would be the one writing a check. His face screwed up and he started shouting that I'd just insulted him, and that he's never cheated anyone. I had to remind him that we'd had pretty much the same discussion when I gave him the last letter, and that he'd said he would complete the the remaining work in a timely fashion. Almost a year is not timely. I finished by telling him any trouble that might happen between us was entirely his responsibility, and all he had to do was use the next three weeks to finish. A few minutes after I left I got a text from him saying that he had been working with one of his helpers that morning on the wiring harness and that another one was about to install the engine. What I saw with my own eyes that morning didn't at all back that up, but rather than respond with that alternate, but accurate, view of reality, I'll just keep dropping by weekly to remind him of the deadline...
Had a pleasant talk with my buddy that runs the little motorcycle custom shop in town, and picked up some ebay selling tips. We also talked about the perceived need to bring younger people into the BMW clubs to carry on the tradition. Attendance at events has been falling for years, I think largely because people spend their time online instead of by attending events face-to-face with people of like mind. Fewer people get an exposure to the industrial arts as part of their education as well, so have no idea that there are people in clubs out there that can show them how to do their own maintenance. Most riders today know little more than where the key goes and how to put gasoline into the thing when it runs dry. They carry a card with an 800 number imprinted on it to use if they need the machine hauled into the dealer. Just read that last bit back, and today's motorcycles don't have key slots anymore, and will start with a button push if you have the fob in your pocket somewhere.
Should have said "should start", as the other day another friend of mine discovered that the battery in his fob had died when he pulled his newest Harley out of the garage where it had been stored all winter. He wasn't going anywhere until he spent enough time reading his owners manual to discover the bypass starting technique and the secret code it required.:shocked:
Two boxes of parts were waiting for me when I got home yesterday, so it'll be another hopefully pleasant day out in the garage. The weather we're having for the next week will sure help.
Hang in there, gang, Friday's comin'!
