22-APR-2010
Day 112 - More Legs
(843/365)
I was greeted with more legs this evening when I came home. It warmed up a little bit these past two days, it has to have for my wife to NOT be wearing long flannel PJs.
21-APR-2010
Day 111 - Milez
(842/365)
I try to photograph "milestone mileages" on my bike(s). I've been waiting for this one since last season. I'd actually thought I'd hit it last season and have a long spell until 40k. I kept watching the odometer this morning on my extended ride in, hoping to not miss this epic event. And, no, this is NOT a prime number! We all know it is 2659 * 13 ;-)
19-APR-2010
Day 109 - Brass
(840/365)
Daughter #2's instrument was hanging out (in its case) on the kitchen table. Made for a good subject this evening. Daughter #1 plays the flute, Daughter #2 plays the trumpet, if Son plays drums, we could have some kind of band action going on.
18-APR-2010
Day 108 - Blockage
(839/365)
Here is where my afternoon went. I spent hours futzing with the bike, trying to synch the Throttle Bodies to no avail. It turned out I had a blocked port, my front port was completely blocked. I tried to unblock it in place and was about to give up and just let it be. Instead, I ripped out the Throttle Bodies (again) and worked the obstruction out with a paper clip. The varnishy looking plug to the right of the paper clip tip is the obstruction. My guess is that one of the prior owners let the bike sit for way too long without running it and gummed it up. This was the first time I'd done a TBS on this bike. I've never let it sit long enough to gum up. After this was put back together, I got the TB's syncrhonized "spot on".
I took about an hour break to run to the auto parts store for some carb cleaner. On the way there, I finally swung by to take a look at a '90 R100GS that a local collector has for sale (he has 30 bikes). I'm interested, but it will need some work. I have to see if it would become my next project bike. He also had a Honda Interceptor 500 in cherry condition for 1/2 of what he wants for the GS. No where on any of my lists did I have the Interceptor written down, that was until I saw it. . .
17-APR-2010
Day 107 - Coloring
(838/365)
About once a month, I am elected to color my wife's hair. This has been going on for as long as we've been married. I think I've caught a few photos of her in that "after color, before rinse" stage, normally she is held captive in our kitchen in front of a book. She can't go far for the fear of getting the dye on the carpet, the couch (our couch is red though), the kids, the pets, the walls, etc. I like the cold tones in this photo, it actually makes it work.
16-APR-2010
Day 106 - Bell
(837/365)
No catchy title on this one. Just telling it like it is. It is a bell that one of us got from one of our "Polar Express" rides. The Conway Railroad in NH has been doing the Polar Express in the winter for as long as I can remember (way before the movie came out). We actually got tickets to it this past year, it is probably the last time we will go for a while (until grandchildren), that's a sad thought.
15-APR-2010
Day 105 - Brake
(836/365)
Lost for a photo again this evening, I spied my front brake lever. I actually got some cool things in the mail today, one of them is camera-related, with another for the camera (LX3). I ordered some RAM parts a few days back and they came in in like 2 - 3 days. I will have a symmetrical RAM mounting system off each mirror stem on the bike. One side will hold my GPS (I ditched the resovior cover RAM mount this year), the other will hold a camera mount. I also bought an adapter for the LX3 to allow it to use a standard (inexpensive) 46mm UV filter. Normally I am not into UV filters, but for the bike, this will work. I want to try to take some HD vids from the bike this year in a manner that is far more safer than trying to grab the camera out of the bag and shoot while riding. . .
14-APR-2010
Day 104 - Wanted Pet
(835/365)
So I am walking around the house looking for a photo op this evening (another late night at work) when I notice there is a hamster setup in our reading room. Not a simple setup, we're talking this is all decked out down to the food, a spare cage, and a table to hold all this. This is not something I've noticed before, but then again I've been working late for the past few months and don't get to see the family in the evenings. I am sure there is a question such as "Dad can I have a <>?". I can almost guess who wants the pet, based on the attention to detail here. It has to be my youngest daughter, there is bound to be some <> books or website links floating around the house as well.
Interesting note, there are no lights in our reading room (kind of defeats the purpose of a reading room). This is lit entirely from the 580EX-2 bounced off the ceiling. Not sure how I lived without the flash for two weeks.
13-APR-2010
Day 103 - Sisterly Love
(834/365)
When my youngest daughter saw my bring the camera out, she tried to hide. My oldest decided she would help me and tried to pin her down for a photo. Of course, none of this was conveyed to me. It looked like sisters fighting until I caught on. Tomorrow morning both of my daughters will have braces. One more child to go after this.
12-APR-2010
Day 102 - Quick Bite
(833/365)
I've eaten at this Donald's so many times when coming back from a ride, I can't count it. This evening, there was something about the deep blue sky and the well lit restaurant that made me derail my start up procedure and pull out the camera. I rejected one shot of the ground I took after I almost fell over to the left.
The end of the ride worked out to be a little cold. I have become such a wimp, when I got back and checked the temp, 'cold' turned out to be 46F. This is what I get for skipping 3 months of prime winter riding be all 'Zen' with my motorcycle maintenance.
11-APR-2010
Day 101 - In My View
(831/365)
I had to pull over this afternoon to figure out where I was, the old fashioned way. Since I haven't mounted my GPS, I am out riding around not knowing when I will arrive at my destination. I wasn't lost, I needed to check a route. So I did it the "Old Fashioned Way". I had to pull over, stop the bike, take off my gloves, unzip my jacket pocket, and fire up my iPhone. It was very exhausting, I had to wait for the iPhone Map to figure out where I was, then I had to switch to Map mode. I need to order my Ram mount so I can get my GPS back on the bike, in plain view, where it belongs.
Also, thanks to
pbeens at Flickr for turning me onto the convex mirror idea. I picked up a pair of 2" convex mirrors today for about $3.50. They make a big difference and are not at all distracting.