So here’s how my bike look now. As you can tell, the front forks aren’t supposed to be bent that way. The estimate came in at just over $4,500.00. The bike can be fixed, no problem (unless the frame is cracked … we’ll find that out in a week or so), but my main concern is my back, hips and shoulder. I’m in pain pretty much all the time, and can’t stay seated in one position for more than about 15-20 minutes. Thankfully, my cast comes off in a week, but I can tell my hand isn’t going to be at 100% for a while.

Being hurt sucks big time.

DG

Thanks for all the kind comments ... I'm still in a lot of pain and can only work a few hours a day. Typing with my left hand sucks. I go to the doctor tomorrow and get a new cast. Hopefully,  it will be better than this one.

Stay tuned.

DG

I'm typing this with my left hand, as my right one is broken. I was going to a meeting about 1/4 mile from my house (on my bike) and some guy in a white van decides to make a left hand turn 20 feet in front of me ... and then stop in the middle of the intersection! I hit the brakes and slam right into the side of him. They strapped me to a board, shoved an IV in my hand and took me to the trauma center. I spent the night in the hospital, got fed a bunch of morphine and vicodin, got a spiffy new cast for my hand and more aches and pains than I care to count. I got home yesterday and spent the rest of the time in bed.

My bike is okay, save for the front end. The forks are bent back and the fender is jacked. Glad to be working at a bike shop, for sure.

My wife is freaked out ... she wants me to sell the bike. While I respect her concerns, I'm not sure if catering to her fear is the best thing to do. We'll see. It's only been a day.

DG  

What a week! We've been clearing out the kitchen for the big remodel ... so that meant finally getting around to the organizing of the garage we remodeled last year. I'll post some of the before pictures so you'll have a reference point when you see the finished product. It's going to be beautiful. Navigating 45 days without a kitchen will be interesting ... I'll keep you posted.

This rain is really starting to chap my hide. To make matters worse, our tankless water heater stopped working this morning, so our little plumber friend is outside working on it. I'm really looking forward to this rain stopping and a little sun coming out for more than 2 hours. Currently, we are 12" over our yearly average. How's that ark coming?

Tonight I'm going to an album release party. I've been invited because I was the model for the album art. Scary, I know. The band's website has some of the images of me dressed in the giant robot suit from last 4th of July. You can check out the band's site here. I'll be introducing the band tonight at the Detroit Club in Costa Mesa at about 7:30pm ... in full costume.

I'm famous.

Have a great week!

DG

All in all it was a good weekend. My birthday was nice ... thanks to all for the well wishes. We had a few folks over to the house, ate some BBQ and just hung out. I got some really funny gifts from my friends, and we had just a nice time. The party broke up around 10:00, and I rang in the New Year by myself.

It was really quite nice to have a quiet New Year's Eve ... I spent it thinking about the last year, and all the things that had gone on, and what 2005 holds.

I think the year is gonna be okay. There's some tragic things going on in the world right now, and while I can't change them, I can change the world in me and make each and every person I encounter feel special ... if only for a moment. 

DG 

Happy birthday to me.

Happy birthday to me.

Happy birthday dear DG.

Happy birthday to me.

<blows out 45 candles>

DG

Merry Christmas!

Thanks to all for the kind words and well wishes about my brother-in-law Joe. While it's not going to be an easy time, just knowing you all are thinking about him is nice. And I really appreciate the call I got today from my old and dear friend, psiler. Thanks SO much .. your call came at the right time for sure.

So some interesting things have happened in my life ... I took and passed the Notary Public exam. Now I have to get live scanned (electronic fingerprinted) and pass a background check. I don't think they find anything too checkered in my past ... I hope.

And I finally got a motorcycle! Here it is, a 2004 Harley Night Train with a limited edition Harley-Davidson paint job (85 of 200). Rather than bore you with the specs, you can see them here.

I would have shown you sooner, but I just rode it home for the first time yesterday. When I bought it, the exhaust pipes were pretty horrible, so I sent a set we had lying around the shop out to be ceramic-coated black to match the rest of the bike. Pretty sharp, eh? It got a little more power than I'm used to, but I think I'll manage. The biggest thing now is I'm trying to find a DOT-legal helmet that is safe and looks decent. The one I have now makes me look like the Great Gazoo from the old Flintstone cartoons (as shown to your left). Since I work for a bike shop, it shouldn't be too hard to find one to cover my enormous skull. Trust me, the image of Gazoo isn't too far off the mark as to how I look with this helmet. But to be honest, I'd rather be safe than stylish any day of the week. We have access to such a wide variety of helmets, in every shape and color so I might even get one to match my paint job. What do you think?

So that's what's been going on in my life. Like I've said in just about every post, sorry I haven't written more. I'll really try to work on that. Thanks for hanging in there with me.

DG  

Got some really bad news couple days ago. My 59 year old brother in law Joe, has inoperable cancer. To make matters worse, he's autistic. He went into the hospital to be checked out because he wasn't feeling good, and losing a lot of weight. We didn't think anything was too terribly wrong, since he had an operation about 5 months ago, and everything was checked out and he was in great health. The doctors went in and did cat scans and some upper and lower GI investigation. It's colon cancer, and has spread so fast that it's all over his lungs and there are tumors in multiple parts of his body. 

Since I'm the one he's closest to, I was the one to talk to him yesterday and tell him what was going on. Man, I'll tell you what, there's nothing worse than telling someone they have cancer. It was one, if not THE hardest things I've ever had to do. Poor guy ... he understood, but I don't think he knows that his time is limited. The hospice worker says we need to talk to him about that in the next few weeks. The doctor says this will be the last Christmas we'll have with him.

I'm really sad, as I love Joe. He was one of the family members that was truly authentic with how he was feeling and how he made everyone laugh with his comments and "Joe-isms."

I've got other things to post, but this one was the biggest event happening.

Thanks for all your posts in my absence.

DG

Sorry for the BIG delay in updating ... I've been super busy at work. It's a case of real life intruding into my online life. A good thing, I suppose.

We're celebrating Thanksgiving today with the relatives and taking the 4 days off next week to really have a vacation. You know what I mean ... a holiday isn't REALLy a holiday with all of the rushing around and trying to get all the things done you need to before the big day arrives.

I do have to say, I really miss hanging out online, and I've been really bad at checking in on the SIR. I'll will post from time to time as it allows, so please bear with me.

DG

It's been raining really hard for the last 5 days here in LA. Lots of flooding, and mudslides.

If this keeps up, I'm building an ark.

DG