Tids and Bits

As a Catholic I'm obligated to participate in the Mass every Sunday, but I'm not required to feel closer to the Almighty there than anywhere else. There are times when I feel much more attuned to heaven on the scooter than I do on a stationary, wooden pew. I talk often about the introspection I do on the cycle, but I do as much prayer on it as I do philosophical and personal pondering, and somehow there on the seat of the BV it feels like I have a direct line to the Big Guy Himself. Of course I do - we all do regardless of how many wheels we might be using at any given time. It's all a matter of perspective. I guess I just feel more alive when I'm riding, and life, as His greatest gift of all, and the appreciation of it that I'm conscious of when I'm riding, just puts me in that presence of mind when I can feel His presence more clearly.

I went to move the Neon after supper a few days ago and when I turned the key in the ignition I heard - NOTHING! Nothing at all. Not a bump, nor a grind, nor a peep, nor a whisper. Just stone, cold silence.

I checked with my mechanic the next morning, Friday, but he was swamped. I'd have to get the car there over the weekend for him to work on it on Monday. You guys who cut your teeth on the internal combustion engine might've relaxed thinking, Oh, it's just the battery, or the alternator, or the whatjamahoozit, but to guys like me who don't know a carburetor from a catalytic converter all it means is $$$. My dad has one of those external, self-contained car jumper things so on Saturday afternoon with my fingers crossed we hooked it up and it worked! To the garage we went! On Monday I found out that it was only the battery. Admittedly, I'll continue to worry for a while every time I go to start the engine. What made the battery die in the first place? It's always something to worry about...

For all the time and money they waste in Washington anyway, perhaps they could take a minute to add some kind of law or statute or something official that would make it illegal for vocalists to "stylize" the National Anthem. The same guy usually sings it at the arena before the Penguins' games, and he does a great job until he gets to, ...land of the free," at which point he holds the "ee" for as long as he can before he gasps for breath and mercifully tags on, "And the home of the brave."

The song should be about our country, our patriotism, our dedication to all of its ideals and values and it should NEVER become somebody's personal plaything with which to glorify himself. Keep it simple, in time, and on pitch. Don't bend the notes, prolong some, and shorten others because you think it makes you sound good. Play it or sing it with reverence!

I wasn't sure that I could get a case of lager to the house on the scooter, but I was confident enough that I could do it.

As it turned out I probably could have managed to bring three of them with me from the store. I'd hoped to find a patrol car with a policeman in it to get a shot of the BV with the beer on it. I'm not sure why. It's not illegal to transport one's brew on a bike, but somehow it felt a little naughty. The best I could do was to find this cop car (A marked one at that, if you can imagine!) parked outside the local tire place waiting to be serviced.


And, last, and I hope LEAST, this cruel, little joke of nature on the last day of March.

Here's hoping it's the last of it that we'll see until maybe next February!

My baby came home from school today for Easter and we did a two hour ride together on the scooter. Though we don't talk nor interact while we're actually riding, there's a bond that's totally unique when she's back there behind me. I'm hoping that when I'm in my 70's and she's in her 30's I'll still be able to ride her around with me - and not on a Jazzy type scooter!

To all who celebrate it with us, HAPPY EASTER if I'm not back here before then!