Soup Talk with Mr. Soup

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.

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 nu...

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...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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...

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 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. ...

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 mad...

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...

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 th...

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 ...

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). ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ag...

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 ...

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!