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It’s different on a Harley

August 29, 2009 by kathi

I went to the Harley-Davidson dealer with Dan today. One of his bikes had been in for service and it was ready to pick up. I’ve written about my own Sportsters, and the fact that my riding has been extremely dormant since it’s hard to involve Rottweilers in the sport without a sidecar. So I haven’t had the need or desire to get a new bike. Today I saw one that could possibly change that. Wow, it was beautiful.

Sometime during the past few years when I was not paying much attention, Harley came out with a new matte-finish “Denim” paint line. I’ve always liked the blacked-out engines and pipes. I liked the look on the Night Rod, even though the V-Rod is not my kind of bike in general. But since I was living under a rock, I had no idea that the denim finish came in several colors. Even though Dan has bought a couple of bikes in recent years, he has never bought a Harley that wasn’t Vivid Black.

You might know that my present Sportsters are blue and purple. Well, at least that one of them is blue since, strangely enough, I don’t have any photos of the purple one.

The bike I saw today was a Sportster Nightster in Black Ice Denim. Black Ice Denim paint was apparently made with me in mind. It looks blue or purple, depending on the light and the angle. I was told that it looks black at night. You can look at the picture on the Harley website, and you’ll see a nice shade of blue, but it really doesn’t show what it looks like in real life.

A Sportster in this flavor now costs over $10,000. For a Sportster. Yeah, I know, we’re in the 21st century and that’s what stuff costs now. But for someone who bought her first Sportster during the $3,999-100% trade in days, it’s a heart-stopping moment. I think my first new car, a Honda Civic CRX, cost less than that. Not sure I can get past that until the economy perks up a bit, especially being the end of summer and all. But, man, that Nightster just calls out to me.

I spent a little more time on Harley’s website, checking out what else I’d missed when I wasn’t paying attention. There is a whole subsection for women riders, which I guess is a good thing. There is also a whole subsection for Latino riders, which struck me as a little bit odd. I don’t want to sound racist, or sour-grapes because there is no subsection for my people (Asian riders), but there weren’t any subsections for any other ethnic group and Harleys are sold worldwide.

Staying with the Harley theme, I’m watching tonight’s replays of Sons of Anarchy Season 1 episodes on FX, so I’m definitely well on the way to having all the storylines fresh in my mind before Season 2 starts on September 8.

(NaBloPoMo | August ’09: 29 of 31 | 75% Challenge: 217 of 274)

Very late update on an exterior improvement

August 18, 2009 by kathi

Way back here I mentioned that the planter bed in front of the house was finally finished, and then I forgot to post photos. Well, here they are, finally.

I don’t think most of you who visit me here had ever seen the old planter bed. It was made of timbers, and over the years was starting to sink and lean. It didn’t look that horrible even at the end, but it was definitely in need of repair and updating. It’s been replaced with a stone edging. I really like how it turned out.

Our lawn service folks were the ones who did this. The cost was reasonable and they did a very nice job.

I’m sure there are some jagoffs in the neighborhood who think we are lazy jagoffs ourselves for hiring a lawn service, since we are not that old and not that unhealthy. Well. I hired the original lawn service the spring after I bought the house in 1989. I was, and still am to some degree, allergic to a lot of different types of plant life. Cut grass used to be a big problem for me. After a series of allergy shots and the better allergy drugs of the 21st century, it is not so much of a problem any more. But back then, I was single, did not own a lawn mower, and was very much bothered by cut grass. A weekly visit from a lawn service was the best solution.

When I got married, we saw no reason to change things, as he did not bring an already-existing lawn mower to the marriage. The lawn service was sold a few years ago, and we thought about dropping it after a season with the new owners. Except the new owners were just as efficient and reliable as the original owners, and the cost was still very reasonable. No reason to change something good. And it’s nice to have one homeowner thing we don’t have to worry about!

Oh, not that I feel I had to explain myself to the jagoffs, and I know that you, my friends, wouldn’t mind if I never explained it. Just in case you were wondering!

(NaBloPoMo | August ’09: 18 of 31 | 75% Challenge: 206 of 274)

Almost nothing to say

August 15, 2009 by kathi

I’m pretty tired tonight and really don’t have anything interesting to write about. I didn’t even record audio or video of me attempting to play my guitar for the first time in ages. This is purely for your safety; see, I do care about you, my readers! For those who are morbidly curious, okay, fine, I’ll try it when I can actually get through a whole song.

I know the lack of a topic doesn’t usually stop me from writing, and in general, I’m totally with this Copyblogger post about writing something, anything, anyway. But tonight I’m going to go offline and watch old CSI: NY, Sons of Anarchy, and Cold Case until I fall asleep. Good night!

(NaBloPoMo | August ’09: 15 of 31 | 75% Challenge: 203 of 274)

Tomorrow… hope or procrastination?

August 1, 2009 by kathi

Another month, another NaBloPoMo! The August 2009 theme is “tomorrow” and since I’ve already used up (wasted? I did get a few things done, but not as many as I’d hoped) most of today, the thought of tomorrow is a promising one right now.

Tomorrow is about hope and promise. That’s a very positive way to look forward to a new day. That new day might bring new opportunities, or at least a chance for a do-over. Tomorrow is also about procrastination. Those things I didn’t get done today? Pushed off until tomorrow, just because I could, assuming that there will always be a tomorrow. Not quite so positive.

I admit to falling into procrastination mode far more often than I should, and using up that limited supply of tomorrows that has been alloted to me. Something to think about as I figure out how to spend tomorrow.

(NaBloPoMo | August ’09: 1 of 31 | 75% Challenge: 189 of 274)

Random thoughts

July 9, 2009 by kathi

I don’t have enough to say on any one topic, so you get to listen to… ermmm… read… this “brain dump.”

I’m awaiting the arrival of my WordPress 2.8.1 automatic update bar. It is sad that even the five-minute update is too much work for me now that I’ve gotten accustomed to the automatic updates, which work great for me. I know some have had issues with the automatic updates. I am not one of those users. If I were smart, I’d be backing up my database and files while I wait, instead of waiting for the update bar to remind me.
I really enjoy Thursday’s Monthly Mingle and the bloggers I’ve “met” there. Thanks, Indigo, for the fun that is the Mingle!
As part of my rally obedience education (remember, I’m the dumb half of the Freya and me team), I joined one Yahoo! Group devoted mainly to AKC rally, and one specifically for UKC rally. I am truly appreciative of the good information that is shared freely in messages and files, and I hope to be able to contribute in time as I do in other groups where I actually know something useful about the subject matter. However, the signal to noise ratio of forums and e-mail lists just amazes me. So many people just don’t seem to care about netiquette, or maybe they simply never learned it. There was a time when only “smart” people had computers, but there was never a time when only polite people had computers, so what gives? This isn’t about the two groups I just joined, by the way. It’s an observation about forums in general (these two actually have a very good signal to noise ratio).
Bird neighbor update: I haven’t seen the male cardinal in a while, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he hasn’t been around. I think we keep very different hours. The female cardinal has been sitting on her nest daily. According to several different sources online, cardinal eggs take from 11-13 days to hatch, and the babies leave the nest in about 10 days. I’m not sure when the eggs were laid, but based on when we first noticed the cardinal pair, I’m going to start being very careful with the dogs near the rosebush starting late next week.
I’m really amazed at how many hits have come here as a result of searches for “Mary Wild” or “show dog deaths.” That awful incident has been in my thoughts as well quite a bit ever since it happened on June 22.

(NaBloPoMo | July ’09: 9 of 31 | 75% Challenge: 166 of 274)