Not much to report for today, just a long day of riding, so I'll do a quick summary and then try to post the pics taken to date.
Up, showered, fed (thanks again Paul & Bettina!) and on the road at 7:30. Paul led us to the highway we wanted and off we went. We picked up 90 and hammered the throttles hard. I love riding out this way! Everyone speeds like crazy! Speed limits varied from 70 down to 55, but everyone drives at least 20 mph over the posted limit. We only saw 2 staties so far and neither of them gave us any trouble. Oh wait, we did see a pack of 4 of them, but that was at a rollover accident (car was on it's side in the median), but the driver seemed not too seriously hurt, which was good.
Anywho, there was a ton of traffic through Chicago and also we hit many areas of road work, which also did nothing for us. At the end of the day, we'd logged 13.5 hours on the road, but only just under 800 miles. Oh well, we got as far as we wanted to for today, leaving about 400 miles for tomorrow before we arrive in Sturgis and the real fun can begin.
That about wraps things up for today. On to the pics!!
Dammit!! The connection here is too poor to load pics. Each time I try, it times out. Stupid Frickfrackennaggle internet!!!!!
Anyway, Zig needs to use the PC and I need another beer...er...I need to take a shower. So if I'm feeling particularly ambitious tomorrow morning, I'll try posting pics then. But for now; "I'm out Jerry". (Hey, it's 11:30 right now and we've been hammering the throttles since 7:30 this morning. A little compassion please?)
Tomorrow? STURGIS!!
Til next time;
Ride Hard, Take Chances
Monday, August 18, 2008
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Details, details, details
Zig and I rolled out just before 10am on Thursday morning. Traffic wasn't too bad, the clouds were minimal and our spirits were high. That was soon to change...
We got about halfway down the Pike when suddenly we saw signs for road work ahead. Okay... Then the signs started saying there was a 2 hour backup. Ouch. As it turns out, we were stuck for only (only?) an hour. Bike stopped, feet down. Bleah.
After we got moving again, we were just about at the NY border and went through the tolls. I clutched down, passed through (Fast Lane) and went to shift back up...except, the clutch lever went right to the handle. No Clutch! And an 18-wheel rig coming up hard on my tail. Zoinks! Managed to turn quickly into the entrance to the parking area (toll booth employees?), and the bike lugged to a stall.
WTF? Busted clutch cable and we're not even out of the state yet? Oy. Well, let's get the tools out and start taking the old one off. Hey...the cable isn't broken...so it's gotta be something inside the trans. Not good. Called the closest HD dealership (40 miles away) and advised that we were going to try and gimp the bike there and they said ok, they'd be waiting. Hmmm...how to get moving? If I start in Neutral and drop into first gear, it'll stall. Zig tells me to start it in first, the bike will kick forward enough until it finally catches and I should be good to do. Hey, look at that...I'm moving! (It was an ugly, ugly start, but it was still a start!).
Power shifted up to high gear and rolled out the miles. Managed to get through a few more toll booths, too. Took the turn off the highway and onto the street the dealership was on. Oh lovely. A main drag, complete with lots of traffic lights. I am unable to stop, people!! Luckily, all the lights were green for us!! Oh wait..the last one was red. So I got stuck doing tiny circles, turning out of traffic into a VERY small sidewalk area, looping around back into traffic, sliding by on the right side of the cars that were waiting, passing Zig, turning into the sidewalk area again, back into traffic, around and around. I'm doing all of this at a dizzying 4 mph, too. ("Look kids, Big Ben...Parliament".) I think I made about 6 circles before the light finally went green and we were on our way.
Got to the dealership (Spitzie’s, in Albany) and they rolled us right in. After advising them that another dealership had had the primary off, just the day before, they said they had a real good idea what the problem was. Sure enough, it was the nut on the tranny mainshaft. They even brought us into the service bay area and showed us the problem. The tech simply rolled the nut back onto the shaft, up tight against the backing plate, took a wrench and gave it a twist. That was it. That was all that was needed. That was all that the tech back at Paramount had needed to do. F’ing retard.
Back onto the road, we started making up for lost time. We crossed into Canada without incident and pressed hard for Brantford (the town we were staying in that night). The daylight was fading quickly and we could see a storm in the distance ahead of us. The lightning was limited to the clouds for a while, but then we started seeing strikes, and that was when we knew it was closing in. However, we knew that we were breaking off onto a different highway soon, one that would steer us to the left – and hopefully away from the storm. If only we could get to the turnoff before the storm did.
We lost the race. When the wind suddenly picked up, almost leaning us into 45 degree angles, we knew it was time to pull over and hit the rain gear. No sooner had we donned it than the skies opened up on us. We pulled back out and continued on, and eventually the storm started to abate a bit. Apparently we’d made it through to the other side of it. Oh look, here’s our turn-off. But it was more than just a turn-off, it was a grand, sweeping bend – which took us back into the storm again, briefly. Hitting the same storm, twice? What are the odds? Oh well, we only caught the edge of it, it seems to be letting up a bit.
We settled into the new highway…just in time to find the rear edge of the storm again. And our speed must have matched the storm’s, because we rode with that stupid thing the whole way to our destination. Three passes through the same storm. Not a good plan, I recommend against it.
We found the hotel, cleaned up and headed across the street to Moose Wanooski’s, the aforementioned bar. Great beer, a funny bartender, and a few hours to unwind from the day. That was Day 1.
Day 2 had us back on the road and back into the USA in good time. We met up with Paul and Mark in Michigan and they took us to a great eatery (Jumbo’s Burger Bar). Beer & burgers and then back onto the road for a tour of some of the roads in the area.
Mark had to break off towards the end, and the remaining three of us blasted off to Paul’s house to get cleaned up again, then pack and head off for the canoeing weekend.
We made decent time getting there, but we were still playing with the last vestiges of daylight as we scrambled to set our tents up. Everyone got set/settled and the party kicked into high gear.
The Michigan Crew! Guido & Star, Joerg & Becky, Diek & Maria, and a new couple (for us); Trace & Bev. That was just on our side of the road. On the other side were the rest of the party animals. I only remember a fraction of their names…Craig & Jill, Mark, T-Bone, Paula…uhm..yeah, I think that’s all I can remember. But they had quite a setup going. They had a real bar; all wood and done up with lights and a working disco ball. A disco ball! In the middle of the woods. Too funny. Because we’d gotten there late in the day, most of the good booze was gone, but there were a few bottles of rotgut kind of stuff available. At one point, one of the women said we all had to do a shot together, so we grabbed a bottle of no-name whiskey. Zig said he didn’t like whiskey, so he couldn’t do a very big shot of it. Ok, the lady pours him about half a finger’s width and he says “Oh, I can drink more than that!” (Bad move - she filled his shot glass to the rim.) The fun and frivolity continued long into the night.
The next morning we packed coolers with food and beer and hopped onto a bus which rode us up the river a fair way. We disembarked, grabbed canoes and kayaks and hit the water. What a day! Nothing but sunshine, a nice breeze, and a decent current which allowed for just kicking back and floating if we wanted to.
We spent about 6 hours on the river, ending up right back at the camping area. We got the campfires going again, set to cooking, and did a repeat of Friday night’s enjoyment.
This morning we packed up camp, headed to breakfast with the crew and now we’re back at Paul and Bettina’s house. Bike’s oil has been changed, showers have been taken, and our gracious hosts let us wash our laundry here, too. We’re now kicking around the table, discussing driving routes that Zig and I can take when we head out tomorrow morning. I think the rest of today will be spent doing some riding and then finding a nice place to chow down for dinner.
Not much else to report - the connection strength is low/slow, so I'll have to wait to post pics until later. First stage of the vaca is complete, now on to Sturgis!
Ride Hard, Take Chances
We got about halfway down the Pike when suddenly we saw signs for road work ahead. Okay... Then the signs started saying there was a 2 hour backup. Ouch. As it turns out, we were stuck for only (only?) an hour. Bike stopped, feet down. Bleah.
After we got moving again, we were just about at the NY border and went through the tolls. I clutched down, passed through (Fast Lane) and went to shift back up...except, the clutch lever went right to the handle. No Clutch! And an 18-wheel rig coming up hard on my tail. Zoinks! Managed to turn quickly into the entrance to the parking area (toll booth employees?), and the bike lugged to a stall.
WTF? Busted clutch cable and we're not even out of the state yet? Oy. Well, let's get the tools out and start taking the old one off. Hey...the cable isn't broken...so it's gotta be something inside the trans. Not good. Called the closest HD dealership (40 miles away) and advised that we were going to try and gimp the bike there and they said ok, they'd be waiting. Hmmm...how to get moving? If I start in Neutral and drop into first gear, it'll stall. Zig tells me to start it in first, the bike will kick forward enough until it finally catches and I should be good to do. Hey, look at that...I'm moving! (It was an ugly, ugly start, but it was still a start!).
Power shifted up to high gear and rolled out the miles. Managed to get through a few more toll booths, too. Took the turn off the highway and onto the street the dealership was on. Oh lovely. A main drag, complete with lots of traffic lights. I am unable to stop, people!! Luckily, all the lights were green for us!! Oh wait..the last one was red. So I got stuck doing tiny circles, turning out of traffic into a VERY small sidewalk area, looping around back into traffic, sliding by on the right side of the cars that were waiting, passing Zig, turning into the sidewalk area again, back into traffic, around and around. I'm doing all of this at a dizzying 4 mph, too. ("Look kids, Big Ben...Parliament".) I think I made about 6 circles before the light finally went green and we were on our way.
Got to the dealership (Spitzie’s, in Albany) and they rolled us right in. After advising them that another dealership had had the primary off, just the day before, they said they had a real good idea what the problem was. Sure enough, it was the nut on the tranny mainshaft. They even brought us into the service bay area and showed us the problem. The tech simply rolled the nut back onto the shaft, up tight against the backing plate, took a wrench and gave it a twist. That was it. That was all that was needed. That was all that the tech back at Paramount had needed to do. F’ing retard.
Back onto the road, we started making up for lost time. We crossed into Canada without incident and pressed hard for Brantford (the town we were staying in that night). The daylight was fading quickly and we could see a storm in the distance ahead of us. The lightning was limited to the clouds for a while, but then we started seeing strikes, and that was when we knew it was closing in. However, we knew that we were breaking off onto a different highway soon, one that would steer us to the left – and hopefully away from the storm. If only we could get to the turnoff before the storm did.
We lost the race. When the wind suddenly picked up, almost leaning us into 45 degree angles, we knew it was time to pull over and hit the rain gear. No sooner had we donned it than the skies opened up on us. We pulled back out and continued on, and eventually the storm started to abate a bit. Apparently we’d made it through to the other side of it. Oh look, here’s our turn-off. But it was more than just a turn-off, it was a grand, sweeping bend – which took us back into the storm again, briefly. Hitting the same storm, twice? What are the odds? Oh well, we only caught the edge of it, it seems to be letting up a bit.
We settled into the new highway…just in time to find the rear edge of the storm again. And our speed must have matched the storm’s, because we rode with that stupid thing the whole way to our destination. Three passes through the same storm. Not a good plan, I recommend against it.
We found the hotel, cleaned up and headed across the street to Moose Wanooski’s, the aforementioned bar. Great beer, a funny bartender, and a few hours to unwind from the day. That was Day 1.
Day 2 had us back on the road and back into the USA in good time. We met up with Paul and Mark in Michigan and they took us to a great eatery (Jumbo’s Burger Bar). Beer & burgers and then back onto the road for a tour of some of the roads in the area.
Mark had to break off towards the end, and the remaining three of us blasted off to Paul’s house to get cleaned up again, then pack and head off for the canoeing weekend.
We made decent time getting there, but we were still playing with the last vestiges of daylight as we scrambled to set our tents up. Everyone got set/settled and the party kicked into high gear.
The Michigan Crew! Guido & Star, Joerg & Becky, Diek & Maria, and a new couple (for us); Trace & Bev. That was just on our side of the road. On the other side were the rest of the party animals. I only remember a fraction of their names…Craig & Jill, Mark, T-Bone, Paula…uhm..yeah, I think that’s all I can remember. But they had quite a setup going. They had a real bar; all wood and done up with lights and a working disco ball. A disco ball! In the middle of the woods. Too funny. Because we’d gotten there late in the day, most of the good booze was gone, but there were a few bottles of rotgut kind of stuff available. At one point, one of the women said we all had to do a shot together, so we grabbed a bottle of no-name whiskey. Zig said he didn’t like whiskey, so he couldn’t do a very big shot of it. Ok, the lady pours him about half a finger’s width and he says “Oh, I can drink more than that!” (Bad move - she filled his shot glass to the rim.) The fun and frivolity continued long into the night.
The next morning we packed coolers with food and beer and hopped onto a bus which rode us up the river a fair way. We disembarked, grabbed canoes and kayaks and hit the water. What a day! Nothing but sunshine, a nice breeze, and a decent current which allowed for just kicking back and floating if we wanted to.
We spent about 6 hours on the river, ending up right back at the camping area. We got the campfires going again, set to cooking, and did a repeat of Friday night’s enjoyment.
This morning we packed up camp, headed to breakfast with the crew and now we’re back at Paul and Bettina’s house. Bike’s oil has been changed, showers have been taken, and our gracious hosts let us wash our laundry here, too. We’re now kicking around the table, discussing driving routes that Zig and I can take when we head out tomorrow morning. I think the rest of today will be spent doing some riding and then finding a nice place to chow down for dinner.
Not much else to report - the connection strength is low/slow, so I'll have to wait to post pics until later. First stage of the vaca is complete, now on to Sturgis!
Ride Hard, Take Chances
Friday, August 15, 2008
Quick update
Zig and I are in Michigan. We had some issues with traffic on Thursday...we danced with a heavy lightning storm (not once, but three times), and had a breakdown, courtesy of Paramount HD. The dealership that worked on my bike on Wednesday.
Oh yeah; when I went to pick up my bike, they delighted me with the news that they had been able to fix my primary leak. How wonderful! Too bad the guy that did the work, neglected to tighten the nut that goes against the backing plate of the transmission mainshaft. So when I depressed the clutch, the thrower assembly had nothing to push against, so the clutch didn't disengage. Lovely.
Anyway, we made it to out destination in Ontario, found the bar that Michigan Paul had recommended, and proceeded to forget about the long day we'd had.
Today, up and on the road, met up with Paul and are now packing to head out for the weekend canoeing/camping weekend. Hence; this is a short post. I'll-be-back (thanks Arnie) on Sunday and will post a more detailed listing of our adventures to date, with some pics, etc.
Hope everyone had an excellent end-of-week and I'll be catching you up, soon.
Until then;
Paddle Hard, Drink Fast
Oh yeah; when I went to pick up my bike, they delighted me with the news that they had been able to fix my primary leak. How wonderful! Too bad the guy that did the work, neglected to tighten the nut that goes against the backing plate of the transmission mainshaft. So when I depressed the clutch, the thrower assembly had nothing to push against, so the clutch didn't disengage. Lovely.
Anyway, we made it to out destination in Ontario, found the bar that Michigan Paul had recommended, and proceeded to forget about the long day we'd had.
Today, up and on the road, met up with Paul and are now packing to head out for the weekend canoeing/camping weekend. Hence; this is a short post. I'll-be-back (thanks Arnie) on Sunday and will post a more detailed listing of our adventures to date, with some pics, etc.
Hope everyone had an excellent end-of-week and I'll be catching you up, soon.
Until then;
Paddle Hard, Drink Fast
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Itinerary!!
Getting itchy to hit the road - hoping the weather will give us a break. We're going on three weeks of almost constant rain, either morning or afternoon...or both. We've already gotten 3X the normal rainfall for the whole month of August and we're only halfway through. Flooding, dams failing, etc. My basement is still dry, which is a wonder to me as I'm in a real low spot (the town wells are actually UP the street from me). I guess it was a good day for foundations when they poured mine. I suppose if I had to find a positive note it would be that my lawn looks good. 'Course, it also means I gotta mow it all the frikkin' time.
K. 'Nuff bitching. Vaca is around the next bend and it's almost in sight.
I dropped the bike off at the dealership this morning to have them do the safety recall repair (fuel pump housing) and also take a look at the leaking primary. Turns out that I got the LAST replacement fuel filter housing available at this time (the Factory only sent them nine. NINE! Oy...). The service manager looked at the primary and said it was an inner primary leak, and that they would not be able to get that fixed and still get me the bike back today. *Sigh* So I said just fix the fuel filter housing and I'll catch up with them when I get back (and I'll keep a stock of primary fluid with me on the trip...) But anyway, I should have the bike back in my possession this afternoon and then it's home to pack.
Here’s our itinerary!!
Thursday, 8/14; We depart around 10am tomorrow morning, and our first night’s destination is a place recommended by Michigan Paul; Moose Winooski’s, up in Brantford Ontario. "Is that a hotel?" you might ask? Hell no, it's a bar! We're hitting the bar, first, and then we'll worry about accommodations, later. (Ok, Paul says there's a hotel right across the street from the bar.)
Friday, 8/15; From there, we continue on to Michigan on Friday morning, where we’re meeting up with Paul for a beer (or three) and some lunch, then off to his and Bettina's abode. We’re joining them and their crew (The Michigan Crew!) for a weekend of canoeing and camping on a river. Should be a blast!
Monday, 8/18; Monday morning, Zig and I are scooping up whatever brain cells are left from the weekend, and heading off to South Dakota.
Tuesday, 8/19 - Friday, 8/22; Checking out South Dakota, Montana & Wyoming. Badlands, Devil's Tower, Crazy Horse Memorial, Mt. Rushmore, etc. Miles and miles of riding!
Saturday, 8/23; Depart Badlands and point our tires towards Nelligh, Nebraska.
Sunday, 8/24; Depart Nebraska and arrive in Oskaloosa, Iowa.
Monday, 8/25; Depart Iowa and arrive in Plymouth, Indiana.
Tuesday, 8/26; Depart Indiana and arrive in Hopedale, Ohio, to check out a biker memorial. (I’m going to see about having two or three names added to the memorial while I’m there.)
Wednesday, 8/27; The day we meet up with the NY Crew! We’ll meet up with them in Jamestown, NY, roll back to Olean with them and make the rounds, saying our hello’s and catching up with long-time friends.
Thursday, 8/28; I believe that we’re rolling out of Olean on this day and taking our time winding along a different route than usual. I think we’re going to follow the route the NY crew usually takes on their return path, but I’m not certain. At this point of the trip, Zig and I will be more than happy to let someone else take the reigns. We’ll just fall in behind and enjoy their camaraderie. I believe we’ll find some place to crash somewhere in eastern NY or maybe VT
Friday, 8/29; Friday we’ll continue our jaunt, finally meeting up with Joe and Kathy to party at their palace in NH.
Saturday, 8/30; This morning finds us on the final leg towards our Labor Day destination; Maine!, where we’ll party the hours away with more long-time friends over the course of the holiday weekend.
Monday, 9/1; *Sigh* and then it’ll be back to reality. Monday will find us saying our goodbyes and then taking the long, boring ride home to Mass.
And then work on Tuesday. That day is going to suck…
But that day is almost three weeks away! So I’m not going to worry about it now!!!
Bring on the vaca!!!
(We’re gonna) Ride Hard, Take Chances!!
K. 'Nuff bitching. Vaca is around the next bend and it's almost in sight.
I dropped the bike off at the dealership this morning to have them do the safety recall repair (fuel pump housing) and also take a look at the leaking primary. Turns out that I got the LAST replacement fuel filter housing available at this time (the Factory only sent them nine. NINE! Oy...). The service manager looked at the primary and said it was an inner primary leak, and that they would not be able to get that fixed and still get me the bike back today. *Sigh* So I said just fix the fuel filter housing and I'll catch up with them when I get back (and I'll keep a stock of primary fluid with me on the trip...) But anyway, I should have the bike back in my possession this afternoon and then it's home to pack.
Here’s our itinerary!!
Thursday, 8/14; We depart around 10am tomorrow morning, and our first night’s destination is a place recommended by Michigan Paul; Moose Winooski’s, up in Brantford Ontario. "Is that a hotel?" you might ask? Hell no, it's a bar! We're hitting the bar, first, and then we'll worry about accommodations, later. (Ok, Paul says there's a hotel right across the street from the bar.)
Friday, 8/15; From there, we continue on to Michigan on Friday morning, where we’re meeting up with Paul for a beer (or three) and some lunch, then off to his and Bettina's abode. We’re joining them and their crew (The Michigan Crew!) for a weekend of canoeing and camping on a river. Should be a blast!
Monday, 8/18; Monday morning, Zig and I are scooping up whatever brain cells are left from the weekend, and heading off to South Dakota.
Tuesday, 8/19 - Friday, 8/22; Checking out South Dakota, Montana & Wyoming. Badlands, Devil's Tower, Crazy Horse Memorial, Mt. Rushmore, etc. Miles and miles of riding!
Saturday, 8/23; Depart Badlands and point our tires towards Nelligh, Nebraska.
Sunday, 8/24; Depart Nebraska and arrive in Oskaloosa, Iowa.
Monday, 8/25; Depart Iowa and arrive in Plymouth, Indiana.
Tuesday, 8/26; Depart Indiana and arrive in Hopedale, Ohio, to check out a biker memorial. (I’m going to see about having two or three names added to the memorial while I’m there.)
Wednesday, 8/27; The day we meet up with the NY Crew! We’ll meet up with them in Jamestown, NY, roll back to Olean with them and make the rounds, saying our hello’s and catching up with long-time friends.
Thursday, 8/28; I believe that we’re rolling out of Olean on this day and taking our time winding along a different route than usual. I think we’re going to follow the route the NY crew usually takes on their return path, but I’m not certain. At this point of the trip, Zig and I will be more than happy to let someone else take the reigns. We’ll just fall in behind and enjoy their camaraderie. I believe we’ll find some place to crash somewhere in eastern NY or maybe VT
Friday, 8/29; Friday we’ll continue our jaunt, finally meeting up with Joe and Kathy to party at their palace in NH.
Saturday, 8/30; This morning finds us on the final leg towards our Labor Day destination; Maine!, where we’ll party the hours away with more long-time friends over the course of the holiday weekend.
Monday, 9/1; *Sigh* and then it’ll be back to reality. Monday will find us saying our goodbyes and then taking the long, boring ride home to Mass.
And then work on Tuesday. That day is going to suck…
But that day is almost three weeks away! So I’m not going to worry about it now!!!
Bring on the vaca!!!
(We’re gonna) Ride Hard, Take Chances!!
Monday, August 11, 2008
Rock, and Rolling out
Monday morning – only 3.5 more days of work and then Zig and I are rolling on out to the Badlands. Work has been straight-out for the past few weeks so I haven’t had much free time to dwell on the upcoming trip. I’ve got one more presentation to do (tomorrow) though, and then full-vaca-mode will be kicking me in the arse.
One of the stops we’ll be making is an overnight out at King and Pat’s house, in Olean, NY on our return trip. That’ll be when we’re meeting up with the NY crew for the annual pilgrimage to Maine for Labor Day weekend. Pat and King have always been quite gracious in letting us Massholes stay with them whenever we’re out there, and one way to say thank you is to bring a rock with us, for Pat’s rock garden.
That whole tradition started…oh…I don’t even remember how long ago it was. We were all up at Russ’ house for Labor Day and Pat brought a rock around to have all of us sign, so she could bring it back to her rock garden. Ever since then, I’ve tried to bring a rock out with me each time.
Anyway, the last rock I brought out, I tried doing something a little special to it; I used my Dremel to carve out the year, the names of those who were staying, and a ‘thank you’ to Pat.
This year, it’ll be Zig and I, so I found another decent rock and carved it up (King, you can’t tell Pat about this ahead of time!);
Starting out; trusty Dremel, some new bits, and a nice, flat lavender rock. (I know the rock doesn’t look very colorful in these pics, but it does have a nice lavender hue to it.)
Finished product. Hey, what can I say – no one will ever accuse me of being a craftsman, but I don’t think it came out too bad.
Yep; rockin’ and a rollin’. I’ll get another post up here before Zig and I headout on Thursday, then I’ll try and post little blurbs here and there as the trip unfolds. Getting close! Can’t wait…
Ride Hard, Take Chances
One of the stops we’ll be making is an overnight out at King and Pat’s house, in Olean, NY on our return trip. That’ll be when we’re meeting up with the NY crew for the annual pilgrimage to Maine for Labor Day weekend. Pat and King have always been quite gracious in letting us Massholes stay with them whenever we’re out there, and one way to say thank you is to bring a rock with us, for Pat’s rock garden.
That whole tradition started…oh…I don’t even remember how long ago it was. We were all up at Russ’ house for Labor Day and Pat brought a rock around to have all of us sign, so she could bring it back to her rock garden. Ever since then, I’ve tried to bring a rock out with me each time.
Anyway, the last rock I brought out, I tried doing something a little special to it; I used my Dremel to carve out the year, the names of those who were staying, and a ‘thank you’ to Pat.
This year, it’ll be Zig and I, so I found another decent rock and carved it up (King, you can’t tell Pat about this ahead of time!);
Starting out; trusty Dremel, some new bits, and a nice, flat lavender rock. (I know the rock doesn’t look very colorful in these pics, but it does have a nice lavender hue to it.)
Finished product. Hey, what can I say – no one will ever accuse me of being a craftsman, but I don’t think it came out too bad.
Yep; rockin’ and a rollin’. I’ll get another post up here before Zig and I headout on Thursday, then I’ll try and post little blurbs here and there as the trip unfolds. Getting close! Can’t wait…
Ride Hard, Take Chances
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Harley Safety Recall & Running for Soldiers
I rec'd a safety recall on the new Harley; it's for the fuel filter shell. Hmmm...apparently it can crack, causing a loss of fuel pressure. This would be a pain in the ass if it happened when trying to start your bike (Do we know anyone that happened to? Hmm....ahh, yes; Zig!). But just imagine how bad it would be if you were cornering on a highway and suddenly your bike just died? Yeah. Bit of a problem there. So I'll call the dealership later when they're open and see about setting up an appt to get this fixed. Hopefully it'll happen before we take off for our trip.
The other item for today is a benefit event that my friend from DC (thanks K!) tuned me in to;
http://info.runforthefallen.org/ A team of people are running across the country - one mile for every soldier lost in the war so far. Pretty impressive.
All donations go to a variety of charities dedicated to helping wounded soldiers, and the families of lost soldiers. Overall, some very good organizations.
Only takes a few minutes to check out the site. Even if you don't donate, there are other ways you can help out if you have the time.
Ride Hard, Take Chances
The other item for today is a benefit event that my friend from DC (thanks K!) tuned me in to;
http://info.runforthefallen.org/ A team of people are running across the country - one mile for every soldier lost in the war so far. Pretty impressive.
All donations go to a variety of charities dedicated to helping wounded soldiers, and the families of lost soldiers. Overall, some very good organizations.
Only takes a few minutes to check out the site. Even if you don't donate, there are other ways you can help out if you have the time.
Ride Hard, Take Chances
Monday, August 4, 2008
Customer Service at it's...Finest
Happy Monday, oh yes.
Just got off the phone with my credit card company. I'll try to abbreviate this as much as possible;
7/15; I received a call from fraud dept that my card may have been compromised. We reviewed 4 charges and they were all fraudulent (cash advances, done out in CA). Ok; card # cancelled, new # issued, all fraudulent charges will be removed. Also; no need to worry about auto-payments that have been set up on this card, they will be updated/switched to the new # for you.
7/25; Received notice from auto-pay recipients that July payments failed, due to credit card not being active (so much for my cc company updating those for me). Updated payment info and payments processed.
8/2 (Saturday); rec'd statement, all fraudulent charges are still listed, along with new, cash-advance finance charges.
This morning; call cc company. Speak to someone named "Shawshum" (that's my best guess at spelling the name of this INDIAN individual). We run through my ID's, my passwords, etc, then I went through the entire history of what has transpired, from the 7/15 phone call, the reviewing of the charges, the assurance that these charges would be removed, the new statement showing all charges plus related finance charges, etc. He says I need to speak to an account manager and transfers me.
I am now speaking to "Shawma" (again, this is my best guess - my phone call is obviously still reaching all the way to INDIA). I again identify myself, going through all the security checks and passwords, ad nauseum. I then proceed to go through the entire history as well. The phone goes apparently dead. I check the counter on my phone display and it's still counting, so the call is still active. No lie; almost TEN minutes later, "Shawma" comes back on and says I need to speak to customer service. Which I found to be interesting, as I'd CALLED customer service to begin with. Anyway, I'm transferred again.
Bonnie. All right, an American! Maybe I'm getting somewhere now. I run through my ID/password process, then going through all the history again. She asks me what about the balance transfer question that I had. What? What are you talking about? Oh, it seems the only thing "Shawma" had entered into the system prior to transferring me, was that I had a balance transfer question. (WTF???) Anyway, Bonnie said I needed to speak to Account Disputes. Transferred again.
Pam. Well, another American at least, so let's see where this takes me. We go through the whole ID/password/fraud history dance once again...and she informs me that I need to speak to the fraud department. Are you kidding me? I asked Pam if this next person would indeed be the person that I needed to speak to, as she (Pam) was the 4th person that I'd already explained all of this to. She apologized and assured me that yes, this next person would be the one. Cue transfer.
Kathryn. Again; ID/password/history. (One of my passwords is a certain maker of motorcycles that I enjoy riding - she had the audacity to tell me that I'd spelled the name wrong. Which of course, I had not, but I was too worn down at this point to bother correcting her.)
Moving on; she said it’s possible that the fraudulent charges hadn’t been removed from my account because the billing period hadn’t closed yet and as such; the charges hadn’t officially been posted to my account. (Uh-huh.)
She marked the bad charges as fraud and said a form that I had to sign would be mailed out to me in 7 – 10 business days. Fantastic. The only problem is that I’m leaving on vaca for almost 3 weeks so if that form doesn’t show up before I leave, it’s not going to get signed and returned. She made notes in my account and said that if I don’t receive the form within 7 days, to call and they’ll fax the form to me - apparently a case # hasn’t been created/assigned yet, so there’s no form that can be faxed to me right now. I asked why no case # had been created yet when they were aware of this problem 3 weeks ago, but she had no answer for that.
At any rate, she gave me the phone number to call if I need to have them fax it over to me. I thanked her and hung up, glancing at the phone timer once again. 42 minutes and 43 seconds. Unreal.
Now if I could only get my hands on the d’bag(s) that somehow got my cc info and made those charges…
Just got off the phone with my credit card company. I'll try to abbreviate this as much as possible;
7/15; I received a call from fraud dept that my card may have been compromised. We reviewed 4 charges and they were all fraudulent (cash advances, done out in CA). Ok; card # cancelled, new # issued, all fraudulent charges will be removed. Also; no need to worry about auto-payments that have been set up on this card, they will be updated/switched to the new # for you.
7/25; Received notice from auto-pay recipients that July payments failed, due to credit card not being active (so much for my cc company updating those for me). Updated payment info and payments processed.
8/2 (Saturday); rec'd statement, all fraudulent charges are still listed, along with new, cash-advance finance charges.
This morning; call cc company. Speak to someone named "Shawshum" (that's my best guess at spelling the name of this INDIAN individual). We run through my ID's, my passwords, etc, then I went through the entire history of what has transpired, from the 7/15 phone call, the reviewing of the charges, the assurance that these charges would be removed, the new statement showing all charges plus related finance charges, etc. He says I need to speak to an account manager and transfers me.
I am now speaking to "Shawma" (again, this is my best guess - my phone call is obviously still reaching all the way to INDIA). I again identify myself, going through all the security checks and passwords, ad nauseum. I then proceed to go through the entire history as well. The phone goes apparently dead. I check the counter on my phone display and it's still counting, so the call is still active. No lie; almost TEN minutes later, "Shawma" comes back on and says I need to speak to customer service. Which I found to be interesting, as I'd CALLED customer service to begin with. Anyway, I'm transferred again.
Bonnie. All right, an American! Maybe I'm getting somewhere now. I run through my ID/password process, then going through all the history again. She asks me what about the balance transfer question that I had. What? What are you talking about? Oh, it seems the only thing "Shawma" had entered into the system prior to transferring me, was that I had a balance transfer question. (WTF???) Anyway, Bonnie said I needed to speak to Account Disputes. Transferred again.
Pam. Well, another American at least, so let's see where this takes me. We go through the whole ID/password/fraud history dance once again...and she informs me that I need to speak to the fraud department. Are you kidding me? I asked Pam if this next person would indeed be the person that I needed to speak to, as she (Pam) was the 4th person that I'd already explained all of this to. She apologized and assured me that yes, this next person would be the one. Cue transfer.
Kathryn. Again; ID/password/history. (One of my passwords is a certain maker of motorcycles that I enjoy riding - she had the audacity to tell me that I'd spelled the name wrong. Which of course, I had not, but I was too worn down at this point to bother correcting her.)
Moving on; she said it’s possible that the fraudulent charges hadn’t been removed from my account because the billing period hadn’t closed yet and as such; the charges hadn’t officially been posted to my account. (Uh-huh.)
She marked the bad charges as fraud and said a form that I had to sign would be mailed out to me in 7 – 10 business days. Fantastic. The only problem is that I’m leaving on vaca for almost 3 weeks so if that form doesn’t show up before I leave, it’s not going to get signed and returned. She made notes in my account and said that if I don’t receive the form within 7 days, to call and they’ll fax the form to me - apparently a case # hasn’t been created/assigned yet, so there’s no form that can be faxed to me right now. I asked why no case # had been created yet when they were aware of this problem 3 weeks ago, but she had no answer for that.
At any rate, she gave me the phone number to call if I need to have them fax it over to me. I thanked her and hung up, glancing at the phone timer once again. 42 minutes and 43 seconds. Unreal.
Now if I could only get my hands on the d’bag(s) that somehow got my cc info and made those charges…
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