My case of the Mondays

-Take my truck back in as the fan switch AGAIN stopped working. It is either 'high' or nothing.
-Pick up my motocross bike as it is finished getting new tires, sprockets, chain, filter.
-Go get my b-12 injection at the Running Store.
-Refill my Humira and get that shot.
-Go to school and do math as it's impossible for me to do homework at home. Study yes, work no.
-Install the fuel injection controller on my Ninja 300.
-Garbage, laundry.
-Run 3 miles at the beach.
-Practice shooting for the upcoming CA state championships this weekend in Sacramento.

Think I've given myself enough to do today??

Some things JUST CAN'T BE FORGOTTEN!

I've always wanted to know more about my insides. Chalk it up to having medical issues my whole life and then working in the medical field myself. Add a little bit of self-centeredness and genetic testing was bound to be something I couldn't pass up.

Enter 23andme, a company that will send a kit to your home for you to get genetic information about your ethnicity/family tree and/or your genetic health issues.

I chose a test level that would cover both, family history and medical history. (or is it medical future?) The kit came to my home quickly and it is pretty simple to do. Wait 30 minutes from eating and such then spit lots into the tube. Shake it up, seal it up and send it off.

Then wait. So while I'm waiting for the results with much expectation, I took some surveys on the company's website. Very clearly and repeatedly do the warn you that you could possibly learn information you will not be happy to learn. And was learned, you can not forget this knowledge.

Well until the Alzheimer's they say you have a 80% chance of developing occurs, and then you'll forget you ever knew it was coming.

Anyways, I am super excited to get results! Good or bad, I wanna know. With full knowledge that some things just can't be forgotten......

Some things JUST AREN'T MEANT TO BE

Why am I at my computer? Shouldn't I be in DC, touring around and seeing stuff I've never seen before? Yep, that was the plan. You know the saying, "plan to work and work the plan?"

Well the part of my plan that included buying a departing plane ticket for the trip wasn't discovered until too late. Post 9-11 security changes mean you can not buy and fly the same day anymore. A 24 hour minimum is required between purchase and flight. So if you're only gonna be gone for 3 days that kinda makes the trip impossible.

Darn. I'll have a good weekend none-the-less and my return flight was credited to me so I'm only out it for the hotel fee.

Somethings just aren't meant to be!

I own the night.

Unedited, original pictures from driving around last night.

One reason not to ride a small motorcycle

I like small motorcycles. I find them easier to touch the ground, easier to ride fast, cheaper to insure, less cost to run and just generally more fun. The dictum, "I'd rather ride a slow bike fast than a fast bike slow" is often proven correct to me when ridding "small" motorcycles.

Well today I learned why sometimes I need a faster motorcycle. And as faster and bigger are often synonymous when talking about speed of a vehicle, I needed a bigger motorcycle today. Coming home from work I did my normal, legal, lane sharing move up to the front of the line at a light leading onto the 8.

As I'm sitting there the BMW X5 suv to my left edges forward and towards me. I look over then the middle aged white guy is gesticulating wildly at me. In a threatening way. When the light turns green I figure I need to move out quick as this road rager is not happy.

And I was right, as the light turns green he goes all Mario Andretti on me and tries running me down. I've got my little 300cc motorcycle pinned, wide open and he is right on my tail. And not happy still. As quick as I can get to 80mph here is still right there, bearing down on my and giving me angry looks and hand gestures.

Basically I couldn't go fast enough to get away. He kept lane changing when I did and I had to start thinking about what to do so this guy doesn't follow me home and try to kill me. Over reacting you say? I've had a gun pulled on me in a road rage incident, so NO, I'm not over reacting.

In tactical terms, I needed to get "off the X" and I was unable to. Which was kinda frightening as I've never had that happen before. I love small motorcycles but this time I was wishin' for more.

Where have I been?!?!?!

OH man, where have I been?!?!? It's been over a week with no entry, how have any of you awesome readers survived??

Well basically I was in Tulsa Oklahoma competing in the national championships for the shooting things I do, International Defensive Pistol Association. (IDPA) I competed as an Expert in the Stock Service Pistol division and finished 10th. Yeah, tenth best in the US of A!!! wow.......

One of my great shooting friends here in San Diego was actually first in our class/division! Keep your friends close and your competitors even closer.... hahahaha.

Spend 5 minutes of your life watching it here,

Looking at the results, well first things first. Often people say, and I'm very guilty of it as well saying "Oh, I could have done better," and so on. Well actually, if I could have done better I would have. So stop making excuses. Again, looking at the results I had stages where I was one of the top 3 shooters and others where I was like 20th.... (cringe)

So I really need to work on reducing my standard deviation. Big time!!

I've also had school, body surfing, motocross riding. This week I work two days at a cardiology clinic, missing a school day sadly. Then I need to practice for the California State IDPA Championships that is in two weeks up in Sacramento. AAAAnd I'm spending the weekend in Washington DC as a quickie tourist.

Phrasing. Meaning I am only visiting for the weekend so I need to be quick about the touristy things I do. I'm hoping for Spy Museum, National Air and Space, Constitution and the Capital. Anything else will be gravy for such a short trip.

Oh, btw, American Airlines sucks. The end.

Thank you, masked reader

Whoever you are, Mr/Mrs/Ms Anonymous, thank you for your comments. Having a little bit of interaction is what helps motivate me to continue to write and post. Thanks!

Blood on the macadam.

On the way to school yesterday was the closest I've ever come to being killed by another car on my motorcycle. Now I've made my own mistakes and almost paid dearly for it, but in all my years of street riding this was as close to the biggie as I had ever come before.

Large busy intersection at Friar's Road, heading west right before getting on the 163 north. 850am, I'm in front and as the light turns green I do a quick scan left and right and take off quickly. If I'm going to lane split my way to the front, which is legal mind you, then I like to get away quickly. Doing my part to reduce congestion and waiting. No cars have to wait for me and I don't have to wait for them.

A question, what is the number one cause of accidents for street motorcycles? Too much corner entry speed. Not an issue here. What is the number one type of accident where a car hits a motorcycle? The car turning left and doesn't see the motorcycle going straight across the intersection. So now back to the action at hand.

I do my scan left and right and take off. Only to see a girl in a truck very similar to mine, run the red light at a pretty quick speed into the intersection and make a wide left turn, tires squealing. By the time the visual recognizing is done on both our parts and the rapid brake applications are over we are 10" apart.

Since I'm in a math class right now, let's make this a story problem. If a 4,000 pound truck traveling 45mph hits Rowdy completely broadside on a motorcycle (combined weight of 440 pounds) while he is traveling 20mph what are the chances he will be air lifted from the scene of the accident? The answer is 90%. The other 10% is I will be just left there with a sheet over me until taken to the coroner's office.

But it didn't happen. To both our credit we did see each other in the nick of time and did stop and avoid hitting each other. But it was inches and tenths of a second from going in a very different direction.

I'm not ready to die. But I've been close before and just barely missed it.

- At age 9 I fell off the second story roof of our house pretending I was Spiderman and hit my head on a wooden fence on the way down. If I'd hit my neck on the large fence post or landed head first..... Instead I was just unconscious for hours on the couch at home with the first of my many concussions.

- Medical illness has taken me to the brink of death from dehydration more than once. And surgical complications once.

- My car was shot while I was in Iraq through the rear window. I was driving. And when the rocket blew up by me. And when my helicopter got a RPG shot at it, which I caught on film. And so on.

- Making a mistake early on in my rock climbing I had to untie and downclimb a route as the only way to self rescue. Fall, die. Don't fall, live.

2013 Christmas Card??

Gojira just needs a Santa hat and I think I got this years Christmas card!

Chop Chop

So here is an unedited before image as I took it at Torrey Pines three days ago, near sunset.

And here is the same image after applying my new Photoshop skills.

I think I like this program. Way more fun that just putting mustaches on everyone like I did for two days when I first started learning the program. But still, I'd prefer to get as much right as I possibly can inside the camera and do as little post processing as possible.

But if you want a mustache added to your pictures I'll still gladly do that too.

Just the Car Facts, Ma'am

So in the past decade I have owned these cars:
2002 Toyota Tacoma I bought brand new in Arizona. It was stolen in Modesto in 2004 and replaced with a...
2004 Acura RSX that worked great for autocross, long trips and living in the Bay Area. My lifestyle seems to require a truck so...
2009 Toyota Tacoma parte dos found its way to my house. And I still have it and drive it 4 years and 75k miles later.

Ten years, three cars.

For the past decade in my household there has also been a.....
2006 Lexus RX400H, luxury hybrid suv. But I was abusing it like a truck, so the afore mentioned purchase. Gone.
2007 Porsche Cayman S. Amazing car but required more dedication than expected to own. Gone.
2011 Mini Cooper S. Still in the garage, but it's not "mine".

Ten years, three other cars. Hardly conspicuous consumption and not near the level of motorcycles I've had in the past decade.
That would be something like, hmmmmm Honda VTR250, Yamaha R6, Suzuki GSXR600 (times two), Suzuki DRZ 400SM (times two), Yamaha WR250X, Honda CRF50, Yamaha TTR125, Honda NT650 Hawk, Yamah FZR400, Kawasaki ZX6R,Triumph Daytona 675, Triumph Bonneville, Ninja 300, Honda CRF250L. So what's that?? Only 16 motorcycles in the past decade? And a lifetime total of probably about 24 or so?

So yeah, I've been driving the same truck for 4 years. And the same type of truck as I've had before. So it kinda seems like it has been for even longer!

If you know me, and I'm sure some of you do, can you see why I want a new car to drive?!?!?!?! Something sporty, not just transportation. And used, to fit the budget and not feel bad about parking it out of the garage.

-Porsche Boxter or Boxter S
-BMW Z4
-Subaru WRX or WRX STI

Shooting

Last Pala IDPA match I was second overall out of 40. Last Pala steel match I was 3rd out of 120 shooters. Today's Prado IDPA match I was 5th overall out of 54 with a major error. Last USPSA match I shot I was 2nd overall in Production out of like 16 people.

So pretty much in Southern California I am always gonnna be in the 90th percentile of competitors overall. But I am not elite level for the nation. The potential really is there for me to be one of the top ten pistol shots in the US. I'm working hard at it, but I still need to do more. Better.

I need to execute the fundamentals, on demand, perfectly, every time and at speed. In exactly two weeks I'll be sitting in the banquet for the national championships for IDPA. I'll let you know how it goes......

Carnegie Hall. Carnegie Hall.

School

School is going good. I seem to tutor a lot of people in my break between classes for algebra. Good to help people who are struggling and need to get better at math.

Photoshop/Digital Imaging is teaching me soo much I didn't know before. Like how to give people mustaches. hahahaha.

School does try my patience, and I often feel like a fish out of water but I am glad I am going. Next semester I'm thinking a continuation of some sort of photography thing, writing of any kind and tennis.

Oh and I do have an A in each class currently. Just like before, I got out of my Bachelors with a 3.33 gpa.

Seriously!!

I'm seriously having I guess what is my mid life crisis. I need to just steal $13,000 from savings and buy a Porsche convertible. Probably a Boxster for that price.

Yes, yes I know I already had a way better car, the Porsche Cayman S. But it was 40+ grand, cost $2,000 in tires every 6 months, a $350 dead battery and then someone keyed half the car and my insurance company paid for a subpar repaint.

But after all that's happened this week, of which I'm not writing any of it here, I am seriously needing it.

A fury that could heat the sun.

The difficulties I am having working between PC at home at Mac at school with Photoshop, cameras and memory cards is driving me to a cursing, blinding rage that could heat the sun it is so hot.

Nothing is working in concert with the other, recognizing, formatting or saving across both platforms. And this is mission critical, so I'm about to go freaking crazy and smashing everything electronic around me into a million pieces!

Blog-o-rhea

-Kicking Tail and Taking Names
At a fairly big local match, over 100+ shooters I was 3rd overall. When I checked the scores I beat my chest like King Kong (more on him later) and jumped around the living room. I love celebrating in private when I do well but in public I prefer to just smile big and say thanks.

-Sex and the Movies
I've rewatched some movies from when I was younger and just now noticed the huge sexual undertones in them. The late 70's King Kong had a lot of monkey lust for the girl I never picked up on when I watched it on TV as a kid.
Breakin'. Yeah, a movie in the 80's about break dancing that my brother and I saw in a sketchy part of town. The theater was packed and the usher told us "no dancing in the aisles." But what the heck, the dudes in that movie are sooooo ghey!! Again, never saw it as a kid.
Finally the one that always gets mentioned, Top Gun. Yeah, that volleyball scene is pretty homoerotic in a way I just didn't pick up on as a kid. Who knew? Evidently everyone but me!

-Stupid Should Hurt
Well I am here to tell you it often does. It doesn't it matter how many years I've ridden a motorcycle without more than a rare scratch or bruise. No matter how many track days, races, professional schools or whatever. Being stupid on a motorcycle will hurt eventually.
So I'm here to tell you no matter that you're riding only 1/2 a mile away, that you're a great rider and that you almost always wear full gear, well if you do decide to ride in shorts and a t-shirt you will burn THE CRAP out of your calf on the exhaust, permanently scarring it in the process.

-Passport
If things go well, then should be moving to Norway in the spring of 2016. From the sun and sand of San Diego to the forests and snow of Lillehammer.

-Skool
Going to community college has been fun. Getting a nice refresher in basic algebra and learning lots in my fine arts/digital imaging/photoshop class. I'd like to continue learning the photo stuff and next semester add in a writing class to replace math. Then I should probably learn some Norwegian as well! Probably have to take private lessons for that though.

-Home and Hearth
No big back yard remodel. Two easements that prevent it on my property. Foo! Guess it's just re-landscape time then.
Looks like my mom and dad will visit next month. And that JW2 will visit in October. And with trips to Oklahoma and Washington DC in those times should get a little of my travel fix.

-It's All About Me!
Totally off my nightmare medicines. I passed out twice a few nights ago to low blood pressure. Once in the bathroom and once at the foot of the bed at 3am. Not good. I'd rather just not sleep and have nightmares.
I shaved my beard off, too many people told me I looked older with it. I'm vain, sorry. Youthfulness is a drug.
I stopped the type of workout I was doing and I've gone from 145lbs to 141lbs pretty quickly. That's fine by me. All I've noticed is a loss in aerobic capacity but I should be able to get that back on my own.
Not a single one of the many jobs I applied to got back to me. Phooh!
And I think I missed my calling as a classic country singer impersonator. All the Hee Haw reruns must have really stuck in this kid, born in rural Oregon in the 70s..................