Not such a wonderful day to die

Well, finally, the day came...it happened. I've been waiting for two years and two months to do it. I had my first skydiving experience today. And it couldn't have been on a more beautiful day. The weather was good, the company was great and I was firing on all cylinders.

Initially, I wanted to do the dive for my 40th birthday, but people kept backing out (or becoming noticably absent) as the day grew nearer. So instead, Emily took me to Cancun, where we had a great getaway. Two years later, I'm working with a bunch of young adventurous-type individuals and I knew that they would be game to do it! Although my birthday was in July, that month came and went, as we were waiting for one of the key people to get his finances in order. Eventually, his birthday turned up in September, where he received a skydiving day as his birthday gift.

Originally, we had all planned on jumping from Byron, because one of the included guys had jumped with them before and he had a good experience. After a few weeks of discussion, it turned out that another guy, who was going to jump with us, had a sister who had a good experience jumping from the company in Lodi, plus it was less than half the price! Can't beat that with a stick! AND she lived to tell the story! Lodi it is.

Obama- Salvation is right around the corner!

After a long and dirty election year, it's finally over and done- Barack Obama is our new President-Elect.  I've been waiting for things to change for so long.

The way of the Republicans has finally caught up with them- the ability of denial.  The years of denial that the economy is on rocky ground from Bush.  The years of denying the real reasons we went into Iraq to kick over that anthil.  McCain's recent and utterly unsupportable claims that the polls are incorrect and that he will prevail in this election.  I will never be sure if they all really believe in what they're saying, lying to themselves or just plain lying.

Come late January, when Obama is inaugurated, this world will begin its healing process, a process that will take a long time, but necessary nonetheless.

Thor Throws a Hammer

I've had better days.  I had just changed my oil and wanted to test out my bike.  The day ended in misery.

I was previously using Castrol oil, but after reading so much about Shell Rotella-T, I decided to give it a try.  After changing the oil and filter, I took him for a ride.

My test ride started off slow.  I first ran some local errands visiting Walmart and the post office.  I noticed that the shifting was extremely stiff and stubborn.  The bike was having great difficulty shifting from neutral to first gear.  Finding neutral was a major task in itself, so eventually, I just resigned to keeping the bike in first, when at a stop.

Next, once the motor was sufficiently warmed up and the oil circulated, I decided to take Thor on the freeway.  Once I was on the freeway and felt he was running pretty well, I found some open space in front of me and opened up the throttle.  I hit 110 very quickly, but right away, the power cut out and I knew something was seriously wrong!  At this point, I was just concerned with getting to the emergency lane before anything bad happened.  I was thinking that maybe the engine seized, so I pulled in the clutch and started coasting across the three lanes.  I was so far ahead of all the cars, it wasn't too much of an issue, plus as I looked over my shoulder during changing lanes, I noticed TONS of whitish smoke pluming from my exhaust!!  Not good!

I made it to the side of the freeway and got off the bike.  I tried to start up the bike, but he didn't want to start- the engine turned, but the battery didn't have enough umph to keep turning the motor.  I examined the situation.  It looked like there was oil spilling down the rear cylinder.  I looked in the oil fill window and there were lots of little bubbles- the oil appeared to be boiling.  Smoke was still floating out of the tailpipe.

Just as I was contemplating walking the bike off the freeway- the offramp was only about 100 yards away.  Just about then, a CHP squadcar pulled over to see how I was doing.  I told him that the bike won't go.  He told me that AAA should reimburse my tow- they did for him and his bike once.  I allowed him to call me a tow.

Don't Let This One Get Away! All the Work is Done! Just Enjoy!

The bike is a 2001 Suzuki SV650 equipped with SVS clip-on handlebars to give it more of an aggressive riding position. It is loud and has total attitude! It has a clean title and current California registration paid till February 2012. The maintenance has all been done and it shouldn't need any attention for a long time, except for regular maintenance- oil changes, etc.

This bike is in very good shape! i.e. there are no dents in the gas tank and no road rash (with the exception of a little burn on the headlight ring). Everything is straight and it runs great!! The paint on the frame and engine covers is a little tired, but it's still in very good condition overall. The motor has just over 60K miles on it, but has been compression tested and is very tight- the engine is strong. It has been tuned to perfection. The bike just received a new professional paint job and it looks fantastic! The tires are practically brand new and have TONS of life left on them. This bike is ready to be ridden HARD!

The bike has been completely gone through and the stock suspension has been replaced. The radiator is filled with Water Wetter and is literally ready to hit the track right now.

The bike has been recently thoroughly tuned including:
- Valves adjusted
- Fork oil changed and replaced with Bel-Ray 20wt oil
- Brake fluids flushed and replaced with Galfer Super Dot 4
- Oil change using Shell Rotella-T synthetic oil (and a new K&N oil filter)
- New NGK CR8E spark plugs
- Carburetors re-jetted (mains and pilots) and synchronized
- Air filter cleaned
- Idle adjusted
- Radiator flushed and refilled with distilled water and Water Wetter
- Chain cleaned and lubricated

The bike is completely loaded with goodies!
- Brand new paint job
- New battery
- New clutch cable
- New tires front and rear, balanced with Dyna Beads
- Race-Tech Gold Valve Emulators
- Race-Tech fork springs
- Delkevic slip-on exhaust
- 2004 Kawasaki ZX6R 636 rear shock
- D.I.D 525VM Gold X-Ring chain
- Sprocket Specialist rear sprocket
- Goodridge stainless steel front brake lines
- Trail Tech Vapor instrument panel
- Buell M2 Cyclone windscreen
- Brand new billet aluminum bar-end mirrors
- Fender eliminator with LED license plate lighting
- Brand new LED signals front and rear (flasher relay installed to correct fast flash rate)
- Radiator trim covers
- Vortex frame sliders
- Swingarm spools

I picked up this bike for so cheap that it allows me to sell it for a bargain. I am only asking $3300 for the motorcycle and as you can see, it's worth every penny of it, plus a lot more! If you're interested, please email me at fattirebs@gmail.com.

Duke is Whole Again

Today, I finally got around to fixing my 4Runner. When I went to pick up that SV650, I had to rent a U-Haul trailer, and me, being the inexperienced trailer hauler forgot that I had a trailer attached, when I tried to back the car up during a parallel parking incident. Doh! The left rear fender flare took the brunt of the action, but luckily, not much else got damaged. That meant that I could just replace the flare piece and we would be golden!

The hardest part was identifying the proper Toyota part number. If you can order the right part, it would already come painted, so just install it and you're good to go! There are a ton of online Toyota OEM part vendors out there, but if you order the wrong part, you're going to pay a restocking fee and the return shipping cost. When calling around to Toyota dealerships, they'll ask for your VIN- that way, they can get a positive match on the year and color for your part. I eventually ordered the part online from out of state (so I didn't have to pay for taxes). The entire price, including shipping was under $130! Not a bad deal!

Security

After doing a little research on the web, I decided it was time to invest in some additional protection for my bike.  Over the past couple of years, more expensive items have started to stockpile on it and it's just too easy to pick parts off of motorcycles.  Those hand levers alone were almost 200 bone$ and would take less than five minutes to get both of them off with only two common tools.

I first started looking at Gorilla, then moved to Chatterbox and finally ended up checking out Scorpio alarms.  I've been intrigued by Scorpio alarms before, mainly because of their RF key fob.  I did a little investigating between the SR-i500, SR-i600 and SR-i900, the latter two being quite similar, with the automatic activation function being the defining feature on the SR-i900.  Although the 900 is the newer model and has the new function, as well as a built-in backup battery, the 600 model seemed to be more expensive, when shopping around for bargains.  I was concerned that the automatic arming feature would always dictate the mode of the alarm and that I wouldn't be able to manually disarm it, if I wanted to.  (Sometimes I park in crowded places, like when on massive group rides, where people are constantly passing near the bike or stopping to check it out.)  I emailed on of the Ebay sellers with this question, so he called Scorpio to find out the answer.  Apparently, there the user is able to do a manual disarming, if desired.  Okay, I was sold on the newer, cheaper model!

Winter Motorcycle Gear Review

Okay. This post is long overdue, so I figured I better have at it, before my upcoming semester wallops me. As part of my commuting plan, I had to go out and buy some motorcycle gear to keep me safe, rain or shine, warm or cold. It was not a decision that came lightly, since buying all new gear was going to cost a fortune! But with some luck and some smart bargain-hunting, I was able to get it done without going broke!

This was my biggest find! I was able to purchase a pair of Daytona M-Star Gortex boots on Craigslist for $40! They retailed for $450 and were barely used! (The seller happened to be just about my size, maybe an inch or two taller, so we wore the same sizes! Just my luck!) He also had a "Hi-Visibility" yellow Tour Master Epic Jacket that he wanted to sell me for $20, with very little use, which retails for $200!. I had been contemplating getting new rain gear, since my old Joe Rocket Ballistic set was getting pretty tattered Hi-Visibility yellow wasn't exactly what I was thinking, but hey, at that price, how could I refuse??

So now, I had to figure out what kind of pants to buy. I needed an over-pant design, so I could wear jeans underneath and they had to be waterproof (or darned close to it). Logically, it made sense to get a Tour Master pair of pants, so that the zippers would mate. I decided to go all-in and get a Hi-Visibility yellow pair of pants. I figured I might as well- the whole idea is to be seen on the road. I really didn't care how hideous I look- I can barely see it from my perspective, and I wasn't really out to make a fashion statement. I ended up buying the Tour Master Venture pants from Motorcyclegear.com for $135.

Last, but not least, I needed some cold weather gloves, since it can get down to about 30° around here some mornings. After doing some research on winter riding gloves, I decided on a pair of Cortech Scarab Winter gloves. They got solid reviews and the price was right- I found a pair on Ebay for $75 (free shipping included).

One more accessory that I thought might come in useful was some sort of anti-fog device or application. After weeks of web surfing and looking over a bunch of products, I took a leap of faith and went with the Fog City Hyper Optiks Visor Insert. It's a simple helmet visor shaped piece of plastic that is applied via supplied foam adhesive strip that controls fog on the inside of the visor, so your vision will not be obstructed. It cost me $37.

Now that I've been riding around in this gear for about three month, I can give a fair evaluation. As I wrote in earlier blog, those gloves are the bomb!! They sure can take a fall and protect your hands. Heck, my foot is just now healing from that fall! (I've slowly been getting in some treadmill time, trying to get ready for the Tough Mudder event in September!) Some mornings when I start my 50-minute commute, it's like 29° F out there with ice all over the grassy fields! But still, my hands are toasty warm. Even on the coldest of mornings, at freeway speeds of 80+ mph, only the tips of my fingers are barely getting cold! Simply amazing. The quality is excellent. Buy these gloves!

The boots were worth every penny as well! (Of course I paid practically nothing for these!) I usually commute in one pair of Thor-Lo socks, like regular running socks, and still my toes have never been cold! The quality and construction are incredible and are very adjustable. They're well insulated and waterproof lined with Goretex. The only thing I can say bad about them is that the toe is so big that it's sometimes cumbersome to shift. I had to adjust my shift peg as far upward that it could go and that barely gets that fat toe in there. After some time, I got used to it and found some "technique".

That jacket is almost too warm! Yeah, it's got like a million zipper vents and the quilted liner comes out, but still, it's one heavy piece of equipment. If the temperature outside is higher than 65° F out, it'll be uncomfortable if you're standing around in that thing too long- once you start moving, it's fine. But even on the coldest of days, when the quilted liner is in place, that jacket will keep you very warm. Even when it's freezing outside, sometimes I'll ride with nothing on but a T-shirt and my scrub top, and still I'm plenty warm. Although I've never had a fall in this jacket, the protection seems adequate. Sometimes the zippers can be stubborn and sticky, but it's nothing to get your undies in a twist about. I've read that the jacket is only 90% waterproof, so after I acquired the jacket, I washed it, then I sprayed down both the jacket and pants with Scotchgard. I haven't had the pleasure of riding in the rain yet.

Like the jacket, these pants are cozy warm! They too have a removable quilted liner. They're roomy enough to wear just about anything you want beneath them. The waist has some flexible material along the lumbar section, so it articulates nicely and adds to its comfort. Again, I haven't yet rain tested these pants, but I'm sure they'd be fine. They seem very durable, but there is one seam near the left pocket, where the stitching has come undone- the opening is just over an inch long. I'll have to sew that up- it should be no big deal, but I did expect more out of a $135 pair of pants.

As for the Fog City visor insert, it's a pretty cool product. It's light sensitive, so when the ambient light is dark or low, the visor is just the slightest tint of light green, but when the sun is out, it turns a shade of blue. It's nice to be able to ride during the Winter days with the blue tint toning down the sunlight, then be able to see at night, while on the freeway. Given a choice, I would still opt for my dark smoke visor for a ride on a Summer day, but for Winter, this is just fine. The visor does a nice job of keeping the fog away, but I would say that it's about 85% effective. If you're sitting at a light for more than a minute on a cold day with the visor clipped close, you might have to help it out by breathing downward or you'll start to fog up. But for $37, I think it's money well spent!

All in all, I'm very satisfied with all the gear that I got! All together, I spent just over $300, while the equipment MSRP'ed for over $930! With the exception of that split seam on the pants, everything has held up and performed up to my expectations. Now, if would only start raining in California, I could test out the gear the way meant to be used!

Here We Go Again!

So the new semester begins....sort of. Actually class instruction doesn't begin for another week, but our clinical rotations began last week. So today, I'm trying to wrap up loose ends at home- reconciling credit card bills, fixing last minute stuff around the house, etc. My grades for last semester were quite acceptable- two B's and an A. After having a couple of weeks off, I'm feeling refreshed and ready to tackle what's coming up ahead.

As we left the last semester, things were up in the air as to which hospitals us students would be going to. I'm guessing that all the required legal paperwork wasn't in place in preparation of our arrivals, it was going to be a no-go. But over the break, our senior clinical coordinator sent out an email letting know that things were in motion and many of us would be rotating to new locations come January. I ended up at Kaiser Mountain View.

I wasn't sure what to expect. When I had told the techs at my last rotation where I would be headed, their reactions were all the same, "Isn't that the mammo clinic? It's run by a bunch of women- men don't work there." To worsen matters, my CI never replied to my email asking about the address of the facility or who my clinical instructor was going to be! I took my best shot and just showed up to where I thought I should be and it all turned out okay. It is a very small clinic, which does mammography, but they do perform diagnostic X-rays too. And yes, only women work there. So far, so good. I seem to be fitting in well. They use digital X-ray systems, so it's something new I have to get familiar with, but positioning is basically the same. Positioning is positioning, and I've managed to impress some of the techs there so far!

This school semester is supposed to be the toughest of all. Last semester was somewhat of a challenge, mostly because everything was so new- figuring out how much effort each class needed, what was the best way to prepare for each test, learning how to adjust to clinical rotations, the enormous commute, and among other things, dealing with personnel. Now that we've gotten most of those things under control, the academic load will be higher this time around. Classes haven't even gotten under way yet and already I've got to prepare for an image analysis! And to think, I was actually considering working a part-time job while in school!

I'm feeling pretty mentally prepared and am looking forward to the challenges of this new semester. I kind of know what to expect, so that's a plus. My wife is more used to my new life, so that helps too. Upward and onward!