• Category Archives Life in the USA

  • After work ride #2

    Posted on by beno Comment

    I really wanted to go once a month, and now that I am getting used to the bike, I am even more keen to make sure we have one a month, but the service of the bike has held this one up……….
    Tomorrow, Amy and I are going for an after work ride, the second one ever.

    route of AWR #2

    I guess there are two things to note, 1. Its a there and back and 2. its been planed for corners.
    I am really getting into the way the bike handles. I really like going smooth around corners. Its not about speed, it never has been for me, the thrill has not been scaring myself (or passangers), its been getting it right. This bike really rewards getting it right, and it responds to getting it right. Its a real buzz to ride.
    Anyway, its two hours up and two hours back according to Google Maps.
    If we get caught with traffic it could take a lot longer. I hope by going east to miss most of the comute traffic.
    We might tweak things a little by going up north and going through Hemet on the way there, more corners in daylight that way, we will come home the way shown on the map. (Unless we are really getting it right and are looking for more corners on the way home).
    I know its a pretty lame ride compared with the last one, and I am a little disapointed that its not a loop (I like loops), but I just have this corner fetish thing at the moment. You know, if you have an itch………


    Goldwing Life in the USA

  • Three into one goes just nicely in America.

    Posted on by beno Comment

    The California road rule book has a lot of different rules in it.
    Some are quite sensible, and yet are ignored (indicator use), some are very sensible and are flouted (mobile phone use while driving) and some sound pretty good, if only a little over the top…… The rule that states that you have to pull over and stop when an emergency services vehicle passes by.
    Sirens blaring, by the time you hear and start pulling over, they are ‘long gone’……. It matters not…… Over here, you pull over and stop.
    I have seen it a few times, but none so spectacularly as this morning on the way to work.
    Sitting at the lights of Rancho and Ynez a fire truck (yes, one of those long trucks with the guy steering on the back (they are so cool to watch going around the corner)) came down Ynez Rd. I sat on my bike and watched dumbfounded as 3 lanes of ‘kill or be killed’ traffic all some how pulled to the right hand lane and came to a stop. It was very impressive.
    Fire, ambo, police, all get the same reaction. I get the pulling over thing, thats sensible, but the whole stop thing has me a little confused. I guess it matters not what I think, I just have to remember to stop…. some how, I suspect when the time comes, I will remember to pull over and the guy in front of me coming to a halt will remind me about the whole stop thing.


    Life in the USA

  • The weather is down.

    Posted on by beno Comment

    This will only really be of interest to Gary, and me, but the weather is down for the moment……..
    So NO SMS OK!!!!!!!!
    I fest up, so it dont count!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    I am having touble with the Vmware computer. Im guessing it does not like running Windows……
    Anyway, Im looking into it, no due date……its Windows…. it could take some time……


    Life in the USA

  • Doh!

    Posted on by beno 3 Comments

    (This happen last week, but I have been….. well….. ah, never mind, back to the blog).
    For the past 4 months, most mornings I have taken a note of the time when I pull out the driveway and head to work. I never do it the other way because I am too tired.
    I do this because I am keen to see whats the quickest and longest times for me to get to work.
    I had just changed the tier and rotated the brake pads to buy me a little more bike time while I waited for the new pads to arrive…..anyway, point is, my mind was else where, so the one morning I dont note the time…… was the one morning I got all nine sets of lights green……………………….

    I have no idea how fast I got to work. Doh!


    Life in the USA

  • News flash!!!!

    Posted on by beno Comment

    We just survived our first ever earth quake!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Amazing! It was pretty strong. It was a 5.8!!!!!!
    We are all good. The Opto building shook like made, Freddy tells me the apartment did the same.
    Anyway, we are not ‘near’ the epicenter (it was about 40 miles to the north, we drive through it to get to church each week!) so it was pretty gentle by the time it got here.
    It started with a sudden jolt and then turned into what the locals call a ‘roller’. The building got up a nice sway, it was hard to tell when it finished exactly because the building probably kept swaying for a few seconds after. The whole event seem to last for about 45 seconds. There was plenty of time for us all to be talking about while it was happening.
    Nothing fell off any shelfs either here or at home.

    So, there you have it. Thats some pretty good blog fodder right there!
    In other news, I got the front tier changed on the bike, so now I just have to bolt it back on tonight and arrange to get the car serviced.


    Life in the USA