Soup Talk with Mr. Soup

Italy Trip 2010

2010-07-30T20:47:00.002-05:00

We visited Italy during July of 2010. View pictures from our trip to by clicking on the picture above.

Wisconsin Weather

2009-03-31T15:10:00.004-05:00

I have lived in Wisconsin my entire life. As the years go by I seem to enjoy the winter months less and less. Cold, wet and windy… I’m thinking a change is in my future.

My First SS1000

2007-06-22T16:24:00.000-05:00

In May of 2001 I read a trip report by someone who recently finished his first Saddle Sore 1000 (SS1000). An SS1000 is the Iron Butt Association’s most basic ride. You must travel on a motorcycle 1000 miles in 24 hours or less and have witnesses and documentation to validate your accomplishment. I was amazed that anyone would put themselves through such a grueling ride and could not comprehend ever wanting to do such a ride myself.

In June of that year I was having dinner with a group of fellow Shadow Rider Forum members at a get-together at the Honda Hoot in Knoxville, TN. The subject of long distance riding came up and I started to talk about the Trip Report I had recently read. I remember telling those at the table how I would never be able to do such a ride given how I felt after my 2 day trip down to Knoxville… about 700 miles. I was in serious pain and couldn’t imagine why anyone would want to put themselves through that. I expressed my opinion that, “you’ve got to be nuts to even attempt such a thing.”

“That was my Trip Report you read…” came a voice from across the table. I think I said something like “What??? You’re that guy???”… Sure enough, I was sitting across the table from the guy that I thought was nuts. His name was Alan Leduc.

Ever since that day I wondered what it would be like to be able to ride 1000 miles in a day. I’m a large (i.e. fat) guy and my Shadow Spirit just wouldn’t be big enough for me to be comfortable for such a long stretch in the saddle. This year I was fortunate enough to take ownership of a Yamaha Venture – a bike that was meant for touring. Also this year, the Motorcycle Touring Forum was putting on one of their regional SS1000 rides in Wisconsin and my brother Mark was acting as the coordinator for the ride.

I looked over the website that was set up for the ride and studied the route that I would need to take for an out-and-back SaddleSore1000. It was 100% Interstate riding and I knew that my new Venture loved the Interstate. I thought about it and decided to go for it. I clicked the Register button and was signed up for my first SS1000.

I started prepping for the ride long before the event. I made lists of what I needed to bring along; made sure I had the mandatory stops programmed into my GPS; reviewed the route several times on-line; and used Google Earth to take a virtual ride once or twice before the day came.

The night before the Wisconsin SS1000 I made sure my bike was all setup and ready to roll out of the garage for an early morning start. Everything was set to go.

On the morning of the ride, I got up at 4:00 a.m.; made sure I had my fully charged cell phone, filled up my ice water and put a few bottles of frozen water in my saddle bag. I kissed my wife goodbye and she said something to me that I’m sure was very sweet. Unfortunately I couldn’t hear her because I already had my ear plugs in. I walked out the door, and I was off.

I got down to the starting point (Suburban Harley in Thiensville, WI) a little after 5:30 a.m.. After Bill Schneider signed my starting witness form and validated my starting mileage I headed off to get my starting receipt at the required gas station just up the road. I got my receipt, made the required entry in my fuel log, got my picture taken by Matt Milanowski and headed off on my ride.

The skies were blue and the temperature was perfect. I thought to myself… this is going to be a great day. It was - for about 3 hours. Then, as I approached the west side of Wisconsin, the skies turned an eerie grayish black. It wasn’t raining, but I felt like I was in the middle of something that was about to turn ugly. I rode a few more miles into hills that run along the Mississippi and then it happened… It was as if somehow I made a wrong turn and ended up going through an automatic car wash. I was getting drenched. Fortunately I was near an exit. I got off the interstate and pulled over to put my rain suit on. One thing I failed to do during my ride prep was to make sure my rain suit fit over my Joe Rocket Phoenix Mesh jacket. I was able to squeeze into it, but it wasn’t pretty.

The rain let up a little as I approached the Wisconsin/Minnesota border, but as I crossed over the river, the skies opened up again. The clouds were hanging low in the sky. I knew this would be the best scenery of the entire trip, but because of all the rain and the low ceiling, I couldn’t enjoy it.

At this point I discovered a problem that would cause me troubles during the remainder of my SS1000 attempt. The stock windshield on the Venture is way too tall. I needed to look through the shield, and with all the rain I was going through, it was like looking through Wax Paper. This was bad!!!! I needed to stretch to see around the left side of the windshield if I wanted to see what was in front of me. Fortunately after about 10 minutes I had passed through the worst part of it and was able to resume looking through my windshield which was now covered with a bug-splattered gray film.

At the start of the ride my brother told me that I would get extra points if I came back with a can of Spam from the Spam Museum in Austin, MN. This being an SS1000 ride and not a rally I knew that he didn’t really have the power to actually give me points but I figured what that heck, I’ll bring my brother back a can of Spam. As I neared Austin I watched for a billboard or some other informational sign that would tell me which one of the 7 Austin exits would bring me to the Spam Museum. Either I missed the sign, or they didn’t have one. I passed the Hormel plant and with it the exit that would probably be closest to the Shrine of Spam. I was able to get off at the next exit and tried to head back to where I thought the Hormel plant was. I got turned around and ended up in some sort of Downtown Days festivities in beautiful Austin. I maneuvered around the barricades blocking the street and luckily picked the right direction that brought me to the Spam Museum. I knew I did not have time to walk through the entire museum to get the full Spam story so I headed right to the gift shop.

Maybe it was because it was lunch time or possibly the fact that I was surrounded by everything Spam, but all of a sudden I had this incredible craving to eat some Spam. I bought a can of Hot & Spicy Tabasco seasoned Spam for my brother and a single serving pack of Turkey Spam for myself. As I walked to where my bike was parked I ripped open that single serving packet, reached in and grabbed that pale pink looking slab of slimy, gelatinous meat product. I took a large bite and instantly remembered why I don’t make it a habit of packing Spam in my lunch. I finished the entire single serving slab and was able to re-enjoy the flavor several times throughout the afternoon as an occasional burp would bring small pieces back into my throat….

I continued heading west through Minnesota. I made fuel stops when necessary and filled out my fuel log as required at each stop.

As I was nearing the South Dakota border, the skies were again looking bad. This time I found an exit and put on my rain suit before I got dumped on. As I listened to the radio, reports were coming in of heavy rains with hail and strong winds on the west side of Sioux Falls. I thought I was going to be OK since the turn-around point was on the east side of the city. I did get rained on but it wasn’t all that bad. I was able to get my gas receipt at the required stop in Sioux Falls and then decided to go into the store and buy a quart of Gatorade to cool off and boost my energy. Somehow I picked the wrong line at the Flying J gas station and found myself being waited on by someone who obviously did not like her job and wanted to make sure everyone suffered as much as she was suffering. The time I spent stuck at that gas station was long enough for the storms outside to start building into a Hellish Fury.

I got back on the bike and started heading east. About 5 miles into my travels I noticed lightning hitting all around me. I wasn’t getting rained on so I kept moving thinking if I could just get past the lightning I would be fine.

Soon it seemed like the lightning had stopped and everything was over. I was wrong. The wall of water I hit was unbelievable. I found it hard to breath with the updraft bringing sheets of water under my face shield. This was bad! The rain was coming from the right and then from the left. I felt small hail hitting me and it was impossible to see through my shield. Cars were pulling over and some were stopping in the middle of the road. 18-wheelers were taking this opportunity to use the left lane to pass everyone and blind them with the spray from their tires.

For a short while I was thinking that I should pull over but there was no where safe to do so. I kept going and after about 15 minutes I was finally out of the storm and heading home at freeway speeds again. What a relief.

I kept heading east and was surprised at how good I felt. The Venture was running great and I was not uncomfortable at all. The cruise control helped me keep a steady speed and the radio helped pass the time.

As I neared the Mississippi River I noticed that I was getting close to needing fuel. Unfortunately every exit I approached did not have any gas station signs. I was starting to get a little nervous but finely approached an exit that had a sign that simply said “Gas”. It did not mention a brand, but at this point I would settle for anything. I needed gas so I got off at that exit. As I approached the Gas station I could see two very old looking pumps next to a run down building. The price per gallon listed on the pumps said $1.19. I knew that I wouldn’t be getting any gas from those pumps. Right next door was a tavern. I went in and asked the bartender where the nearest gas station was. He gave me directions to a station 8 miles away. I headed down some country road and turned right here and left there. This was not good. I was hoping me reserve tank would be large enough to take me to where I needed to go. I made it to the gas station and noticed that is was right next to the interstate. If I would have just stayed on the interstate for a few more miles, I would have found that same station on my own.

I crossed over to Wisconsin and was now in familiar territory. It was now dark out and I was noticing several Deer Smears on the highway. I didn’t like the looks of that but I needed to push on and get back to where I started this ride so long ago. I kept alert and tried to follow behind an SUV with a lot of light illuminating both sides of the road.

Before I knew it I was entering Milwaukee. I got to my final mandatory fuel stop, got my receipt and finished my first SS1000 in about 18 hours. I got back to Suburban Harley, handed my brother his can of Spam and watched as Roger Barnes, Jim Szudajski and Bill Schneider validated my fuel log and receipts. That felt good!

Back in 2001 when I first read about Alan Leduc’s adventures doing his first SS1000 I never thought that one day I would be writing my own SS1000 trip report. I’m glad I gave this a try and happy that I was able to succeed.

Stay Tuned

2006-05-07T21:03:00.000-05:00

I haven't been traveling all that much for work. As a result I have not had much time to kill sitting alone in a hotel room, and as a result of that, I have not added any new entries to this blog in quite some time.

I have a feeling that this situation will change in the very near future. I predict that a big change is going to be happening soon and I will either be spending a lot more time in hotel rooms all across this world, or I will be spending a lot more time at home. Either way, this should give me more opportunities to add additional entries to this most exciting blog.

Stay tuned for more information...

This has no point

2005-11-09T19:24:00.000-06:00

Warning… this entry really has no point. If you want to continue reading, go ahead.. but you’ve been warned.

I haven’t been traveling very much for work lately and as a result I haven’t had much free time in the evenings to add entries to this blog. It seems when I have nothing to do at night while on the road I tend to use my free time writing while sitting in my hotel room. (beats wasting a lot of time and money hanging out in some bar.) Since I’m currently at a point in my career where I’m not totally sure who my boss is or exactly what my responsibilities are, I thought it best not to blow the budget and take trips over to Detroit or England to do on-site support. I’m hoping soon those things will be worked out and I have some direction. Until then, I’ll continue resolving issues and trying to learn as much as I can about the next release of the system that I am responsible for implementing and maintaining.

Right now I’m at home. The TV is on in the background. My wife is watching something and doing the wash at the same time. The volume is pretty loud, but I’m able to totally block it out. I hear the dog down the hallway. He’s taking a drink from his bowl. It seems once he starts he keeps going until the thing is empty. After he finishes he thinks it’s his job to walk over to the first person he sees and rub his face on their leg… this time it’s my wife’s turn. She groans, I laugh…

I made dinner this evening. We had Rotisserie Chicken and baked potatoes. It was pretty good. Very moist and tasty. The rotisserie I have is just big enough for one chicken. With three of us eating we have enough. When there are four of us, I usually have to make some sort of extra side dish to fill us up.

Rotisserie chicken is my second favorite food. My first favorite is my Mom’s Cheese Torte. My mom has been gone for about 12 years now. I can still taste that Cheese Torte… it’s thick and sweet and oh so good… Patti tried making it for me once. It wasn’t the same, as a matter of fact, it was pretty awful. She tried and freely admits that she failed. My Sister in-law’s version is very close to my Mom’s. Usually on Christmas she makes one for the family. It’s really good. Patti always takes the time to tell her story of the one time she tried to make it for me.

In about 1 hour I have to go pick up Jamie from work. She has a part time job entering information into a database for Title transfers. It’s a boring job that takes skill and accuracy to do. Ryan had the same job before he went off to college. During winter break they’ll let him come in and put in a bunch of hours. He’ll need that to help pay for his tuition.

This weekend is the annual Cathedral Concert for the Symphonic Band. We are playing one piece that is pretty percussion intensive. I’m looking forward to that number. I hope I don’t screw it up and we can keep it together. Most of the other selections we are doing have some percussion… some of it pretty important, but not a lot of notes. It should be a good concert if everything comes together at the right time… which it usually does.

See, I told you there really was no point to any of this… Don’t you wish you had those couple minutes back so you could have done something useful?

The Soup Run

2005-06-29T15:18:00.000-05:00

Five years ago I started holding my annual Soup Run. This is an event held the Saturday after Memorial Day where I invite people I have only met on the Internet to my house for an afternoon of soup and socializing. These people come to my house in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin on their motorcycles from near and far.

The first Soup Run had 12 people in attendance. I thought it was an overwhelming success. People actually got on their motorcycles and traveled to a stranger’s house for soup. My wife and kids thought I was nuts…inviting total strangers and feeding them for free. I thought it was a good idea.

The second year it seemed like a lot more people were going to show up, but because of one reason or another many backed out at the last moment and only 13 people attended. I was pretty disappointed after that one. I worked so hard, tried to get people to commit to coming, prepared a ton of food and then so many people didn’t show. I thought hard about calling it quits, but my family, and an Internet post by Roger convinced me to continue on.

Roger’s post helped me to see that this thing was all about doing good things for others with out expecting anything in return.

Over the past few years the Soup Run has taken off. This was thanks to some word of mouth and postings on multiple motorcycle forums. Year three saw 60 people attend. Year four 70 people showed up and this year and amazing 110 people found their way to my house. Many more would have shown up if the weather forecast would have been better. Now, I think it might be getting too big.

I’m not sure what I’m going to do next year. My neighborhood might be reaching it’s limit and I don’t know if my neighbors are appreciating the fine display of motorcycle machinery that’s invading the neighborhood.

It was great!

2005-05-19T16:05:00.000-05:00

I had a good time last night. Me and my two kids went to see the midnight showing of Star Wars III. IT WAS GREAT!!!

We bought our tickets on May 1st. That was the day they went on sale in our small town. My guess is that people must have been camped out waiting to buy tickets because by the time we got ours, the entire main theater had been sold out and we got tickets for the second theater. That was OK with us because the movie was being shown in both theaters at the same time…

Our intention was to get to the theater about 9:00 pm to get in line. That way we would be assured a good seat and not get stuck sitting too near or far from the screen. Well… my daughter was on line with one of her friends at about 6:00 pm. This friend was on the phone with someone who was already waiting in line. The report was that about 20 people were already waiting to get into the theater.. oh , oh… our plans were about to change. I talked to my kids about going earlier than 9:00 pm and I was sure that I was going to be met with… “so soon… I don’t want to wait so long…”, but to my surprise they both said “Let’s go!”… They wanted to get there and make sure we got good seats as much as I did.

My son is a Star Wars geek…. He knows everything about the movies and all of the side stories that go with Star Wars. If you were to look in his room, you would see movie posters on the walls from all of the Star Wars films. If you looked at his shelves you would see that they are full of Star Wars models and figurines. His book shelf is filled with nearly 200 Star War books that he has read… some of them twice. He loves the adventures, science and philosophy surrounding this story… Now that the last film has been made, I wonder how he is going to get along…

My daughter also likes the story… not to the extent of my son, but she does enjoy it. I think she probably likes the love story between two of the main characters and all the action and thrills that are part of it.

When we got to the theater, not as many people were standing in line as I had imagined. That was good. Me and Jamie sat in the car, while Ryan joined the crowd. He loved it. He was with friends… some he had never met before, but because of this common interest he was soon talking and having a great time.

The crowd soon swelled into a mob. Ryan had gotten a good spot, so we were assured some decent seats.

They let us in the theater 2 hours before show time. We had our fill of popcorn, nachos and soda… and then the lights dimmed and soon that familiar opening and music was filling the theater. The crowd burst into wild applause.

I remember seeing the first Star Wars movie in 1977. As I recall, a fellow percussionist and I had some sort of bet. I think it had something to do with who would screw up first during a snare drum duet that we were doing for competition. Well, she screwed up first and owed me a dinner and a movie. We went out to dinner and then went to see Star Wars. That was a good night. Who would have thought that 28 years later I would be sitting in a theater with my kids watching the story that came before that 1977 movie. It was great!

I’m sorry Shirley

2005-05-04T19:35:00.000-05:00

My words hurt people. I've used them without thinking on so many occasions.

The other day my girl came home from school. It was a big day. She had auditions for next year’s placement in the top concert band. I asked her how it went and I could tell instantly by the look on her face that it didn’t go as she planned.

She said that she got real nervous and had troubles with all of her scales. I said “What? You’ve been practicing those every night for the last three weeks… How could you screw up? Oh well, welcome to the second band!”

Instantly I knew that was a terrible thing to say. My little girl has been worked up about this audition for the longest time and was trying her absolute best – all in a effort for me to be proud of her, and I go ahead and say something stupid like that. She started crying.

I tried to tell her I was sorry and how terrible that was for me to say. I tried to make her feel better by saying something like… “I’m sure things will work out, and you’ll get your spot back in the top band.” Boy, I really hope she does. If she doesn’t, she will be so hurt. She was one of only two freshmen in that band this year. The Alto Sax section is limited to 4 players. That’s a pretty hard chair to get in this largest high school in Wisconsin.

I’m sorry Jamie.

I’ve had this problem my entire life. I’ve said things to just about everyone I’ve cared about that should have never been said. If only I would think before opening my mouth, things would be so much better for me and the feelings that I have hurt.

I’m probably most sorry about the things I’ve said to my mom and dad. Those were two very special people that deserved so much better than I gave them. I really can’t remember specifics of what I said, but I do know that I hurt them each on more than one occasion. They were great parents and I should have thought a little more before opening my mouth.

I’m sorry mom and dad.

For a short while, several years ago, I was a Technical Group Leader in a department that developed specialized software for factory automation products. I was in the middle of working with one of my people on a very large software project that she was heading up. She was very worked up about some details that I felt should be swept over. In my mind I thought she was missing the “big” picture. I said angrily… “Don’t sweat the small stuff.” She instantly started crying and became upset. I should have known better. She was so concerned that every detail was taken care of and everything was to my liking… and I go ahead and say something stupid like that.

I’m sorry Shirley.

Distant Memories

2005-04-25T16:27:00.000-05:00

It’s strange how people can be blinded by the fog of distant memories. Some see a time long ago when greatness was present. They refuse to give that time up and are unable to focus on the present to see how greatness has been faded with age.

There is so much more to this story, but it will not be published here…

I think I'll have a malt

2005-03-22T21:20:00.000-06:00

I don’t think I should have gone to the doctor.

A few weeks ago I had a little scare and decided at that point that it was best that I went in for a Physical. Patti made an appoint for me at the first mention by me that I should go see a doctor. She wasn’t going to let that opportunity pass since she has been trying to get me to go for the last 15 years.

I went in for my appointment last Monday. They did the weight thing, the blood pressure thing and then I sat with the doctor and he asked if anything was bothering me. I said no, but was concerned because of my excessive weight and the fact that diabetes runs in my family. He listened to my heart, my lungs, felt my ankle and that was it… He wrote up an order for some blood and urine tests and told me to go to the lab some morning after I fasted over night. Well, I couldn’t do it the next day because I was leaving for Detroit, so the lab stuff had to wait until Saturday.

Saturday morning I went to the hospital to have some blood drawn. The girl taking my blood was incredible. Because of my fat arms, I don’t have any vanes that stick out and even with that she was able to find a good source on the first try. She filled two tubes up and then I was off to the restroom with a cup in my hand.

On Monday I received a message to call the doctor’s office. Me being the pessimist that I am, I was already getting ready to check into the hospital for my quadruple bypass or to have my insulin pump installed. I called and talked to the nurse. She read off the results and said everything was normal. The only thing that looked a little above average was my “bad” cholesterol count. She said just cut back on some saturated fats and start exercising a little.

What??? That’s it? All that worrying for that? Exercise a little? Cut back on fats??? I could have come up with that! Those helpful little words probably cost me $400 or $500 after the visit and all the lab work. I wouldn’t be surprised if they tacked on a little something extra for faxing the results to me.

My guess is if I would have never gone to the doctor, I would still think something was wrong and try even harder to lose weight and get on the treadmill. But now that they tell me I’m OK, I think I’ll go out and have a malt.

Just plain wrong

2005-02-21T15:51:00.000-06:00

I just realized something… I didn’t make any friends in college. I went to UW-Milwaukee for 4 ½ years and I don’t have a single friend from those years. As a matter of fact, I can’t remember a single name of anyone I met in college. That’s pretty sad.

In High School I made lots of friends. I knew lots of people’s names, but for one reason or another have not kept in contact with any of them… but in college, I can honestly say I can’t remember anybody. The people I remember from my college days are those friends I already had in High School.

I came to this sudden realization after I spent last Friday touring UW-La Crosse with my wife and son. We were there checking out the college Ryan will be attending in the Fall. We spent most of the day listening to facility and students talk to us about how great life is at UW-L. After the listening session, we took a guided tour of the campus and then had an extended tour of the science building and it’s labs.

I believe the main reason I never made any new friends at college is because I lived at home and most of my High School friends were either attending UW-Milwaukee with me or attending another school in the Milwaukee area. None of us lived on campus and we tended to not associate with people outside of our circle. So many opportunities lost there…

My hope is that Ryan will make all sorts of new friends while living on campus at UW-L. Hopefully one or two of those friends will become life-long. Going through 4 or 5 years of college life and not remembering a single sole from those years is just plain wrong.

I got scared!

2005-02-16T21:12:00.000-06:00

OK… So I got really scared this past weekend. Last Wednesday I noticed a discoloration on my abdomen that looked like it could be a bruise, but didn’t hurt like a bruise or seem to have the same coloring as a bruise. I tried hard to think back and remember me bumping into something or getting hit by something, I couldn’t recall anything that would have caused this.

I watched the color get darker and redder over the next couple of days, and noticed that this discoloration was surrounding a small mole.

This was really bothering me. A work friend of mine died a year or so ago from Malignant Melanoma (i.e Skin Cancer). I remember clearly one of the last conversations I had with her. She told me to make sure I immediately have myself checked out if ever I see something out of the ordinary. She waited a little too long, and as a result, she lost her battle in only a few months. I think she was in her early 50’s with a couple of kids still in High School… way too young.

Saturday I checked the Internet and viewed probably 50 pictures of Melanoma. That spot on my belly looked like several of those images. My wife took a look and the expression on her face let me know that she was as scared as I was.

That whole weekend so many thoughts went through my head. Was this really cancer? Will I see my kids graduate from High School and College? Will I see them get married? Will I ever see my grand kids? What will my wife do? How will she get along without me? … These were all very emotional thoughts and the more I thought about it, the worse it got.

On Monday an appoint was made for me to see a dermatologist. That entire morning I was in a fog. I hadn’t been to see a doctor in years. My last physical was 20 years ago. Did I blow it and was this the beginning of some really difficult times for me and my family?

Patti, my wife, came with me to the doctor’s office. I could tell she was so very nervous as she waited with me. I looked over at her, and she looked away and started blinking really hard and quickly. I’ve learned over the years that this is her way of trying not to cry and keep her eyes from tearing up… I felt so sorry for her and wished so much that I wasn’t putting her through this.

My name was called and I went into one of the examination rooms. Soon the doctor came in and I explained my problem. He asked to see the problem area. I lifted my shirt and he got close, looked at it with his lighted magnifying glass and shook his head… My heart skipped a few beats because I knew the next thing out of his mouth was going to be “We need to do a biopsy.”

He looked up at me, still shaking his head, and said. “It’s a bruise.” “What?”, I said. “A bruise. Nothing more than a bruise”, he said in a pissed off sort of voice.

I was relieved, but I could tell he was perturbed. I think he thought I was one of the hypochondriacs that runs to the doctor office on government assistance every time I sneeze. I explained my worries and how this really shook me up because of my friends recent death. I think he understood then and asked that I come back in 6 months for a follow up checkup to look at my plethora of moles scattered over my body.

On the way back to work, I asked Patti if she would make an appointment for me to have a complete physical. This little episode made me realize just how much I like being alive. Several warning alarms were sounded and I now realize I better get myself checked out and start taking better care of myself.

After all, I really do want to see my kids graduate from High School and College. I want to walk my beautiful daughter down the isle. I want to hold my grand kids in my arms and I want to have a long relaxing retired life with my wife.

I got scared, but I’m better off because of it.

Making your dreams come true

2005-02-10T09:13:00.000-06:00

About 15 years ago I saw a commercial, or read an advertisement in a magazine related to learning how to write. It was for a mail-order school where they give you assignments, you mail it in, and a week later you get your corrected assignment back in the mail.

Something in the back of my mind has always been telling me that I would be good at writing. During college I would look forward to the essay questions because I knew I could easily fill up that little blue test book. My only problems are that I am terrible at spelling and my grammar usually sucks.

And I don’t always know where the next paragraph should start… see…

Well, I decided to call that 800 number and have them send me some ‘no obligation’ information about their school. A couple weeks later I received my packet. I read it over and just like so many other things in my life, I decided to pass on it. That didn’t stop the company from sending me even more information about their school. Over the course of the next year I received all kinds of stuff. I have a feeling that one of the assignments for the students who were enrolled in that school was to write special customized advertising literature trying to persuade potential students. Not a bad idea if you ask me…

My wife has laughed at me a couple of times when I’ve mentioned that I’d like to write a book or get into some professional writing. She usually says something like, “You don’t even like to read. How are you going to write?” … pretty supportive don’t you think?

I don’t know if I will ever write a book, or even attempt to have an article or two published in some magazine. I hope I do. I think it would be pretty cool to see my words in print for everyone to read. Who knows? I suppose this is another one of those “What if?” moments that I have every once in a while.

There are so many choices in life. Wouldn’t it be great if you could always make the right choice and wind up making your dreams come true?

The Best Years of Your Life

2005-01-31T09:47:00.000-06:00

This past weekend we drove up to Wisconsin Rapids to listen to a concert by the Wisconsin Chapter of the National Band Association. Ryan was selected to play in the All-State band. I think there were 90 students from 45 cities in that group.

That band was incredible. Probably other than the President’s Own Marine Band, this was the best band I’ve ever heard. The director they flew in to direct this thing was outstanding. Over the short two days of rehearsals, somehow he brought all of these strangers together to make an ensemble that jelled like nothing I’ve experienced in my life. The dynamics, the accuracy and the overall feeling of the music was so uplifting.

After something like this, I sure hope Ryan continues on with music in his adult life. If he doesn’t, at least I hope he takes all of these lessons he is learning about working together and uses them to help with all of those life problems he is sure to run into.

It’s strange… people use to say to me, “these are the best years of your life” when I was in school. I guess I never believed them or understood what they were saying. I sure hope Ryan sees that what he is going through is something pretty special. I pray things only get better for him and that his future is filled with even better opportunities and accomplishments.

Thanks Tommy!

2004-12-15T20:00:00.000-06:00

Here I sit in my hotel room in Utica, MI. The sound of the dishwasher is trying to drown out all the other non-familiar noises of this hotel.. Occasionally I’ll hear someone running down the hallway. Occasionally I’ll hear a door slam.

A few minutes ago I heard what sounded like a whole pack of dogs barking and howling. I didn’t think they allowed dogs in this place. It’s a nice suite hotel. I suppose families might be living in some of the rooms waiting for their house to be completed or something…. Oh well, doesn’t bother me any…

I got a package delivered to my house today. My wife called me to tell me about it. I asked her to open it… I guess I’m a little kid that way… She opened it and tried to describe what it was. She tells me it’s a wood piece about 13 inches by 8 inches. On it, burned onto the wood is the word HONDA and under that is a drawing of a wild boar. A guy from Florida sent it to me. Last winter I sent him some Wisconsin snow (all sealed in a jar). I was getting a little stir crazy because I wasn’t getting out much. I guess he wanted to return the favor by sending me something. That was really nice of him. He wrote me a note telling my what’s going on in his life. Last winter he sent me an email (after he received the snow) that really made me think about things and realize how one person’s actions can do good in ways that you can’t even begin to imagine. I’m so happy I sent that little jar of snow.

I never met this guy before. We have only communicated on a Motorcycle Forum on the Internet and via a couple of emails. It’s pretty strange knowing that someone you may never meet face to face is thinking about you and wishing you well. This Internet thing can be a pretty powerful thing.

I have to think of something to do this winter that will touch others. People I don’t know and will probably never meet. Life is too short to keep everything to yourself. I need to share more and spread a little joy…

Thanks Tommy!

My worst birthday... (so far)

2004-06-24T09:44:00.000-05:00

I think this was my worst birthday. I didn’t have the right attitude all day and things people would do, or not do just seemed to rub me the wrong way.

It all started when I got up. I made some remark like “What, no French Toast?” I always have cereal for breakfast, and it would have been nice to have French Toast that morning. I made the same comment on Father’s Day. I guess nobody got the hint. My fault. I should have said before I went to bed. “You know what I would really like for breakfast? French Toast”… Oh well. Like I said it’s me fault. I shouldn’t be so selfish and think that anything special should be done for me on my birthday.

I worked all day. That can really ruin a birthday.

I called home a few times during the day. I talked to my son. He never said “Happy Birthday.” That bothered me. My daughter called me once to ask me something. She said Happy Birthday. That was nice.

I talked to my wife around 3:00 pm. She asked what I wanted for my Birthday dinner. Three o’clock and she’s asking me what I want for dinner… I had to play a concert that night. I said grilled hotdogs. I think I said grilled hotdogs for three reasons. One, I knew I didn’t want to eat a lot before the concert. Two, I like them, and three, I felt kind of worthless at that moment and hotdogs seemed appropriate.

I got home. My wife didn’t get home until after 5:00 pm. She was carrying a package. I guess she found some time after work to finally go shopping for a birthday present. I think she had already purchased one thing all ready. These were just add-ons.

She also bought the hotdogs and buns. I opened the grocery bag. I looked…. She bought the cheap Oscar Meyer wieners. How appropriate… I felt kind of cheap, but something in the back of my mind was hoping that she would buy nice big fat “Sam’s Club” kind of Hotdogs. My fault… I guess I should have told her what kind of hotdogs I wanted.

After dinner I got to open my presents. I should really step back here… I just got a new car. While thinking about getting a new car, I said to my wife. “Don’t get me anything for my birthday. We’ll be spending enough on a new car.” … I opened the first few gifts. They were perfect. Nice and small and cheap. And I actually wanted them. Then I opened up my “Big” present. It was a new HP Color photo printer. I should have kept my mouth shut and just said “Thank you.” Instead, everything seemed to build up at that point. I’ve said repeatedly that I don’t want anything new for our Computer. That thing is so fragile, and loading anything new into it will cause it to have problems. I’ve told them that repeatedly, and they went and bought me a new printer. I wish they would have stopped at the soup ladles, video cassettes and CD holder.

Also, I’ve had conversations with my wife a couple of times about Photo Printers. They cost too much to print photos on those things. The paper costs a lot and the ink is ridiculously expensive. I can go to the drug store and get pictures printed for less money and not have any ware and tear put on my hardware… why didn’t she remember those conversations.

Thousands of other people would have loved that Photo printer. I looked at it as a total insult. Nobody listened to me.

I got home after the concert. I was looking forward to eating some birthday cake. It was about 9:15 pm. I sit down and wait and wait. My wife is busy doing something in the garage. I finally got up and went to the garage and said something rude like “Do I have to ask to have my birthday cake.” We then ate the “fake” cherry cheese cake. It was good.

I wish I could do that day all over. I’d try to do things differently and not hurt so many people.

I don't like birthdays...

2004-06-23T11:52:00.000-05:00

Today I turned 43. Where are all of the years going? It seems like just yesterday, I was a boy crossing the street at Honey Creek Parkway on my way home from Third grade (the second time through). I remember thinking to myself… I can’t wait until I’m 16 and then I’ll be able to drive.

Then I remember the afternoon I graduated from 9th grade. I was on my bike riding around the teachers parking lot at Alexander Bell Jr. High. I remember thinking to myself… the next time I step into a school, I’ll be in High School.

Then I remember freshman orientation at UW-Milwaukee. I was confused. The guy taking us around asked, “Do you have any questions, like where’s my locker?” I thought to myself… yeah, where’s my locker? I didn’t realize that we weren’t going to have lockers anymore.

Then I remember graduating from college. I had a job lined up in Fond du Lac. I remember walking down the isle at the Arena when I saw one of my teachers sitting right next to the isle. He said to me as I passed, “So you think you’re graduating?” What did he mean by that? Did I fail his class? That night, I made a trip to UW-Milwaukee to check the final exam scores posted outside of his office. Good, I didn’t fail. I did graduate.

Now, I’m sitting in my cubical at work, thinking where did all of the time go? Who am I? What do I want to do for a living? When will I die?… and how???

I don’t think I like birthdays anymore.

A Great Weekend

2004-06-01T16:06:00.000-05:00

I had a great weekend. It actually started Thursday afternoon and lasted until Monday afternoon. I went on a mini motorcycle vacation with my brother and nephew. Our destination was Corbin, KY to meet up with a bunch of Sport Touring guys. We weren’t planning on hanging out with them, but it was a convenient excuse to ride around that area of the country.

Thursday evening we made it down to southern Indiana and spent the night at a Lee’s Inn. We’ve stayed there twice before. This time, the lady checking us in was one of the least helpful people I think I have run across in the hotel business. We asked for a Roll-away bed. Her response was “We don’t have any.” Then, as if thinking we would mention that we knew they had roll-aways, she said… “They are all being used.” By the looks of the parking lot, we could see that they only had about 6 rooms booked that night… I guess everyone had a few roll-aways reserved.

We are pretty laid back people. We didn’t make a fuss and headed to our room.

They really need to do some cleaning in that place… and replace the carpet. It’s going down hill fast.

Friday was great. Just south of Cincinnati we got on twisty, hilly roads and spent the next 400 miles having fun making our way to Corbin. Mark had a small problem on one of the turns, but after helping him lift pick up his bike, things were back to normal. We got to the hotel in Corbin in the early evening.

Saturday was another great day of riding. I think we put on another 400 miles enjoying some of the finer roads in Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia. It was almost as if these roads were made for motorcycles. Some of the hair-pin turns would have been difficult to negotiate in a car. I was beat after that full day of riding.

Sunday we started our ride back north. We saw some pretty country and had some fun going around some twisties. Rain caused me to have to slow down quite a bit in some of the sections.

When we got into Illinois, the trouble started. We were in the middle of farm country with nothing but corn as far as you could see. The skies looked threatening and with out warning we were right in the middle of it. Incredible winds from the left with downpours of rain and hail… then the wind started coming from the right. This was no good. Lightning hit about ¼ mile ahead of me – right where Matt was. He came on the radio screaming. I couldn’t understand anything he was saying. I could barely keep my bike upright. There was nowhere we could go. I’ve never been so scared on my bike.

We found a small bar and went inside to get out of the rain. I’ve never was so happy to be in a smoke filled room as I was standing inside that no-name watering hole.

After it stopped raining, we headed north. As we got into Camplaign, IL, the skies looked worse than what we just were in the middle of. Mark made the call to get off the highway and head to a KFC. That was the smartest decision of the weekend.

On Sunday we headed home. I was home around 2:00 pm.

Even with the bad weather, I had a great weekend. Memories from these last few days will be with me for the rest of my life.

Bad Vibes

2004-05-26T14:44:00.000-05:00

I’ve always been a nervous person who thinks something is going to go wrong. I work myself up to the point where I honestly think my bad vibes actually cause things to go wrong. Take my computer for example. My wife or kids can turn the computer on and everything starts up just fine. Me, when I press the power button, thoughts shoot through my head like… it’s going to lock-up, the blue screen is going to come up again, the disk is going to have errors…. And you know what? Something bad usually happens.

I have problems with my motor vehicles as well. Twice now I think I willed my car to have problems. My wife told me that she needed to add oil to her van because it was low. I instantly started thinking that my car needed oil. Wouldn’t you know it, the next time I started my car, the LOW OIL light came on… What’s with that?

Then, on Christmas as we were coming home from our holiday visits the Low Coolant light came on in my wife’s van. That thought was running though my head the next day as I was pulling my car our of the garage and I noticed a couple of drops on the floor. I open the hood and find that I have a coolant leak…. That sucked…

Now it’s my motorcycle…. Drops of oil have been noticed around the Final Drive. (It’s a shaft drive bike) I’ve changed the oil, made sure that level was OK and now, after a few weeks, I see oil drops again. I’m now worried about my coolant and tires… let’s see how long it takes to have those things go wrong.

Get it done!

2004-05-24T10:12:00.000-05:00

Oh how I hate it when people don’t keep commitments or even bother to tell you that they won’t be doing something. I have problems with this in my personal life and my work life.

I’m sure you have probably been in this situation… you talk to someone about a project or a task and all indications are that that person intends to follow though and do what they have indicated they will do… Then a couple weeks later you realize the task hasn’t been done and when you bring this up with the person who has failed to follow through with their commitment you get a blank stare, or worse a statement like… I didn’t mean I was going to do it now… or… something else came up and I decided not to do the thing we were talking about.

Maybe the problem all comes back to me. Maybe I’m not specific enough, or feel like I’m hounding the person if I make them tell me exactly what they are going to do and exactly when they will have it done. I tried this once with my wife and learned not to do that again. (at least with my family)

This latest situation is work related. I need information to continue with a project, but for the last month, the people that I need to get this information from have been totally ignoring my requests. Now my boss is saying “get it done”. I can’t, I don’t have the data.

My guess is that there are some political things going on and the reason I will eventually hear as to why I didn’t get anything for the last month is because other high priority things came up… That’s fine, just tell me!

Rain Rain go away...

2004-05-21T11:45:00.000-05:00

Where is all of this rain coming from? It seems like every time I look at the weather station, the forecast is for rain. Rain is good... but not all the time. I've got stuff I need to do outside and doing those things in the rain is NO FUN.

Last night I cut the grass. I actually had to push the mower thru water that was a couple of inches deep in some areas. The grass needed to be cut because of the forecast for rain throughout the remainder of the week. I couldn’t wait for my son to do it because he was at work… and any ways, I really need the exercise.

I have a problem with some of my gutters and downspouts. The gutter in the far back of the house seems to get clogged and water pours over. The dirt in the back of my house is washing away. I ended up buying a 32’ ladder so that I could get to that gutter to clean it out. The problem now is that the ladder is too heavy to easily move around. I’m so glad I have a wife that is willing to help me no matter how much I swear.

I really hope this weather clears up… I got the Soup Run coming up on June 5th and rain would be no good…

Stay dry!

Soup’s on!

Why a Blog?

2004-05-21T09:14:00.000-05:00

This Blogging thing seems to be a very interesting way to let the world know who I am and what makes me tick. I found a reference to this service while reading my PDA news and thought I would give it a try.

Hopefully I can share with you some of my thoughts, some good recipes and possibly a little humor...

Soup's on!