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Showing posts from November, 2007

Remebering Evel Knievel

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Robert Craig Knievel was born in Butte, Montana on Oct. 17, 1938. At the age of eight, he was the Joey Chitwood daredevel show, and he decided what he wanted to do with his life. Thru his teenage years and into adulthood, Knievel was into everything. He earned awards in ski jumping and ice hockey during high school. He admitted to having been a swindler, a car thief, a safe cracker, a holdup man. He served in the Army. He formed a semi-pro hockey team and was the owner, the coach, and a player. He worked in the copper mines, sold insurance, operated a hunting guide business, and opened a Honda Motorcycle Dealership. But, Robert Craig Knievel was a stuntman and entertainer. Billing himself as Evel Knievel, he drew crowds. He began a solo touring trip in 1966 charging promoters $500 to jump two cars. By 1968, he had gained national recognition by steadily increasing the distance of the jumps. For New Years 1968, he announced he would jump the fountains at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas

Blue Like Jazz

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"My most recent faith struggle is not one of intellect. I don't really do that anymore. Sooner or later you just figure out there are some guys who don't believe in God and they can prove He doesn't exist, and some other guys who do believe in God and they can prove He does exist, and the argument stopped being about God a long time ago and now it's about who is smarter, and honestly I don't care." - Donald Miller I found Blue Like Jazz to be a very refreshing read. Miller's writing style is personable and authentic. He isn't on a high rock preaching his belief's to those of us struggling through life. He writes from a vantage point of being open, genuine, and vunerable. The majority of the book details his experiences at Reed College (a liberal arts school) in Portland, Oregon where Miller discovered how to interact and exhibit love to those around him who had curiousities about the Christian faith.

Thanksgiving Dinner from BlendTec

Riding a motorcycle on today’s highways, you have to ride in a very defensive manner. You have to be a good rider and you have to have both hands and both feet on the controls at all times. - Evel Knievel

Southern Dining

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I've always heard about Mary Mac's Tea Room but somehow have until today missed the opportunity to give it a try. Today was the day. We exited off I-75 South at exit 249D - Pine ST, hung a left on North Ave, a left on Peidmont and a Right on Ponce de Leon. Mary Mac's Team Room sits at the corner of Ponce and Myrtle. Parking is in the rear. It is quite unassuming from the outside although I loved the recently repainted Coca-Cola advertisement on the side of the building. It has a few trees between it and the sidewalk, maybe a professional photographer could get a good shot of it (Steven - HINT). (note: I didn't take the pictures in this posting) We were warmly greeted and quickly seated. The first thing that caught my attention was that the waitress gave us both a menu and an order ticket and pointed at the glass on the table containing two pencils. You actually fill out your own order. When our waitress realized we were visiting for the first time, she brought us a smal
"Nothing is ever what you expect. Maybe that's why we travel." - Peter Egan

Charging an IPOD

So you're IPOD has a low charge and you're jonesing for some tunage, but you aren't near a computer to charge it. You take an inventory of what is available to you. You discover you have a screwdriver, a bottle of Gatoraide, a glass, and an onion. You're in luck, McGyvor time to recharge the IPOD.... Now quit worrying about your IPOD and go ride your motorcycle!

Veterans...Welcome Home

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We pause to express our heart filled gratitude to those who are serving, those who have served and to those who have lost a loved one serving in the United States Armed Forces. You did not get to have a choice in the politics behind the fight. You simply answered the call to defend the country you loved. Thank you for standing in harms way when your country called upon you in a time of conflict. Thank you for your sense of honor above all. Thank you for your dedication. We enjoy the civil liberties and freedom of this country and we owe a debt of thanks to you that we can. Welcome Home, Soldier!

Ride for Will

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William Clay Davison was born March 1, 2007. Tragically he died from SIDS on July 25, 2007. In his memory, his parents established the Will Davison Memorial Scholarship Fund. On Saturday, Nov 10th, the First Annual Ride for Will was held to raise funds for the scholarship. Bikes began assembling at 9am and by 11am there was a good crowd of men and women and their machinery. I was extremely impressed with the hospitality offered to the riders - coffee, cappachino, cokes, water, biscuits, you name it. These folks went over the top to make this an enjoyable event. The ride left South Forsyth High School preceeded up Georgia 400, off towards Cleveland, Georgia and the arriving at Helen. Forsyth County provided some of the best traffic control I've seen for a ride literally giving us the exclusive use of GA 400 North on a Saturday afternoon. When we left Forsyth County, I expected the traffic control to end, but that was not the case. Each county we entered had their respective Sheriff&

First Motorcyclist??

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A common theory is that the first motorcyclist in history took his maiden voyage November 10, 1885 (I know I missed posting it yesterday, I was on a charity ride). Who was the first motorcyclist? (insert brief history jaunt...it is claimed I never have a short answer) Gottlieb Daimler(born March 17, 1834) Daimler worked in a steam engine plant for several years before going to work with N. A. Otto to perfect the Otto oil engine at Gasmotoren-Fabrik in Deutz. Daimler and Otto began to have their differences and in 1882, he left the company and teamed up with a friend, Wilhelm Mayback. They opened their own factory to develop a lightweight gasoline powered engine. By 1885 they had created the carburetor, a "dependable" ignition system, and a gasoline engine that was considerably faster than Otto's creation. There is a bit of controversy in who created the first motorcycle - Otto or Daimler. If you believe the claim that Daimler did, it is reported that this took place in No

The Cotton Fields of Home...

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As I rolled the garage door up at 5am, I was pleasantly suprised to find it was 59 degrees F. It had been 39 on Monday, so I was expecting more of the same. As I began my journey through downtown Atlanta and then down through the southside, it was apparent my plan of leaving early and missing the morning commute traffic had worked well. Then I read the message on the matrix board over the interstate that read "wreck 3 miles ahead, 2 right lanes blocked". Considering there are only 3 lanes going south, that has to be a bad omen. 2 miles later, I shut off the bike and put down the kickstand. After 10-15 minutes, I see cars starting, and we crawl past the wreck cleanup and resume speed. A fuel-up near Macon makes for a good excuse for coffee and a bit of breakfast thanks to the folks at the golden arches. Back in the saddle and resume my journey south. As I approach Cordele, things all to familiar. I pass the Farmers Market Road exit where the race track is located that I spent

Fall Back

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Daylight Savings Time ends at 2am (the wee hours of Sunday morning), set your clocks back 1 hour when you go to bed.

Fall is in the Air

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I had just about all but given up on the leaves turning, but they are and they're once again beautiful. Still doing the job search thing, I've been fortunate to pick up some consulting work here and there to get us by until I land another fulltime job. I was up this morning to get ready for a Sharepoint presentation that I was assisting with at Microsoft's facility in Alpharetta. Just before I was ready to don my leathers and fire off the bike, I got a last minute request to cover a client call for the firm that was putting on the Sharepoint gig. So I had a ride down a route that seemed terribly familiar as it was my original commute 6 years ago. Traffic was light as I missed the onslaught of commuters that had taken place 4 hours prior. The fall weather was cool but enjoyable and I got to enjoy the colors of the leaves surrounding the roads on my way to the client call. After some running some diagnostics and an enjoyable telephone conversation with Dell's award winnin

We've Always Done it That Way...

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"A skittish motor-bike with a touch of blood in it is better than all the riding animals on earth, because of its logical extension of our faculties, and the hint, the provocation, to excess conferred by its honeyed untired smoothness." - Lawrence of Arabia