Around the World in Under 80 Days

This is a first for me. A true around the world flight. First stop: Shanghai. This is for the company's annual sales meeting. Then I keep heading West and go to Berlin to work on a European digital TV project. Then to Turkey and back again. Should you expect photos? Well, of course!

Quite the Day...

The day started out good. I got a call from my mortgage broker, Kim Bean at Summit Mortgage, with the results of my appraisal (I'm doing a refinance right now). It came in higher than I expected and works out to about a 7% a year gain. Not bad.

Now, getting into work, things changed fast. Pretty quick we learned there are layoffs. Then the time of dread set in while we all waited to learn if we were cut or not. I survived, but many good people and friends didn't. Not a good day.

I did get my passport back today (sans visa). Then learned I was wanted for the sales conference in Shanghai next week. So, My passport is back in a FedEx envelope going to get a China visa. At least those are easy!

It Wasn't Me...

Even though the winning Powerball ticket was sold in Oregon, it wasn't to me. Sigh... Guess I'll go to work.

New Blog

The motorcycle is sitting comfortable in my garage. I am going to get fairly detailed about what I am doing to her, so to spare you, gentle reader, I have decided to start a new blog just for the motorcycle. So please, give it a read, and if you like it, you will always find a link on the column to the right.

• Swiftcurrent Motor Inn

Motivation

As I am sure you recall, the motorcycle I am purchasing is up in Seattle. At first I thought this was a pain and wished I could have found a bike here in Portland. Now, I think it might be a good thing. If I found a bike here, I would have got it and stuffed it in the garage. With the current situation, I had a few days to burn. So, I made the best of it by cleaning out the garage:

• The workbench, which had stuff on it from the very first day I moved in, is clear
  
• New light over the workbench replaces a much smaller, non-working one
  
• An additional shop light in the garage (I already converted the little ceramic light holder to a double-gang outlet and had two shop lights)
  
• Added a ceiling mounted retractable extension cord
  
• Two garbage cans worth of crap removed
  
• A ton of empty boxed recycled
  
• A new clock radio so I can see how far past midnight it is while listing to NPR or 94.7.
  

It feels really nice to have that done. I know I'll be much happier working in a clean garage.

The pickup is all set for 6:00pm on Sunday. The trailer is reserved. Kevin is nice enough to let me borrow his rig (I don't think he has a pet name for it). I received my Clymer and Haynes Repair Manuals from Amazon today. I think all is ready.

You Make The Call...

A Pumpkin of a Weekend

Jen finding her perfect pumpkin at Kruger's Farm.

Well, I've been off the blog wagon for a bit. Sorry about that. Time to get back in the saddle! This weekend was a great fall weekend. Saturday was very cool and overcast. A definite sweater day! Cindy and I headed out to The Pumpkin Patch on Sauvie Island to take in the fall festivities, drink hot cider, and get our shoes really muddy in the corn maze. That night, we went to Andy Wood's party. It was just a normal party, because everyone has four live bands at their party. Don't they? We missed the first band, but caught the last three. Of those, Sounds Like Fun really rocked. Great harmony and some good licks.

On Sunday Jen calls up and asks if I want to go out to Sauvie Island and do the pumpkin thing. Luckily, we went to Kruger's Farm so it was a new place. We took in the fall festivities, went on a hay ride, and yes, got our shoes really muddy in the corn maze. That night we headed over to the Mill's for some spaghetti, and on the way there, made the call the secured my new motorcycle!

Back on Two Wheels

This spring I sold off my wonderful Honda VFR 750 as I was moving to Turkey "any day now". Well, the entire summer has come and gone, and I am still here. Obviously the main riding season has come to an end, but something made me look back into the two wheeled life. I found a post on Craig's List. I have been thinking for years about a 'project'. Lots of guys do cars and other things, but I always thought that if I was going to do a project, it would be an old chrome-tanked BMW. And so there was the post. A guy here in Portland selling his 1973 BMW R75/5 'toaster'. An odd little catch is that the bike is actually up in Seattle. Here's a bit of history from Peter, the current owner:

The bike is original. I believe I bought it from the original owner in 1984 in Eugene. Then I put my girlfriend on the back and drove across country to New England and back through the Southwest and up the California coast. After that, I rode summer weekends through the back roads of Washington. I got a little wrapped up with women in 1996, bought a house and put the bike in my garage in Seattle under cover.

And it has sat in that Seattle garage since. Obviously I have some work to do to get it back on the road (all new fluids, rubber bits, maybe need to clean the carbs, etc.), but that is the beauty of this bike; it is so easy to work on. BMW made this style of bike through the mid-eighties mid-ninety's, so parts are still stocked at the local dealer. It's my intention of restoring it, but always in ridable form. I haven't seen it (even a picture), so we'll see what there is to do.

I think the bike is a true classic. Beautiful in form and function. What is the motorcycle that Robert M. Pirsig is maintaining in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance? One of these.

Yes, I know I am leaving, but this just isn't a transportation tool. It will be something to work on now, and on my return.

I haven't figured out the exact transportation plan, so I'll let the Seattle clan know more when it is decided.