Things that are obscene, crude, or pornographic breed an inner darkness that numbs our higher sensibilities & finally exchanges the natured or divine conscience of, "Is this right or wrong?" for a merely social conscience of, "Will I be found out?".

D. Hammersksold

  So people have made comments, pretty much all positive, about The Cat; the stuffed little cat that rides behind the windscreen on my bike.  I felt perhaps it would be helpful to explain where he came from & how he incurred that particular nom de plum.
  Hayden is a fine 'fabricated american' whom I met whilst working on the ambulance.
  We carry a few stuffed toys on the rigs to help calm  frightened kids down.  Most of the time a nice teddy bear, teddy puppy(?), or even teddy cat(??) works great.
  Well Hayden isn't like the other cats.  His head is wwaayy out of proportion to the rest of him.  His eyes, consequently, are out of whack too.  This gives him a misshapen, mutant cat vibe that children weren't digging ... not even a little bit.  Really , it was freaking them out so w/ compassion for both Hayden & the kids I brought the cat home (swapping him out w/ some sort of squeaky monkey-thing).  Now he rides happily between the windscreen & instrument panel of my motorcycle.
  Hayden is named for Tom & Roger Lee Hayden (two of three Hayden racing brothers).  They're both factory Kawasaki riders racing the AMA circuit.  I ride a Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R so it seemed approppo. =)

  I meant to write something about this before & now I'm running a little short on time so this'll be quick.
  About a week or two past a national news broadcast highlighted a young man who recently graduated w/ honors from Princeton Univ (well done).  He has an invitation to continue his studies at Oxford Univ in England (well done indeed).  There's one problem:  he's an illegal immigrant from the Dominican Rep.  His name escapes me ... another reason I should've written this earlier. =)
  More to the point, he's an illegal immigrant because his mother hauled him & his younger brother from homeless shelter to homeless shelter when their visa gave out.
  Somehow (grace of God I believe) he managed to avoid the drugs / booze  that seem to take hold of folks in those circumstances.  He excelled in school, 'sowed' into his future & now he's reaping the successes of his hard work..
  Ok so, once again, the issue is, he's, technically, in the U.S. illegally.  If he goes to England to study at Oxford he can't return to America for ten years. (Y'know what they call that Charely?  They call that a decade ... it's a long time.)
  The basic lean of the news feature was, clearly the immigration issue is more complicated than folks realize.  ?? Huh ??
  Clearly in this gentelman's case, the system needs to make an exception.  He's actually made something of himself instead of succumbing to pitfalls that doomed many of his peers.
  Now if every illegal immigrant was a genius &/or worked their tails off to acheive something decent (legal would be good), & positively contribute to U.S. / American culture I'd say the current immigration debate was more complicated.  But one success story does not a complication make.
  Drat ... out of time ... must get to ambulace for another day of fun in the Duke City sun. =)  Perhaps more later (certainly editting later)...

  Among the terrific aftermarket mod's my bike's previous owner had done is a full titanium, performance exhaust (full Akrapovic).  Whilst handing over the keys, he mentioned never having the bike re-tuned after the install.  People in the know had told me repeatedly to have: A) a Power Commander fuel management computer thingy put in & B) get the bike re-tuned, ideally on a dyno.
  Well last week I finally managed to get all the parts & the bike down to a local motorcycle shop (PJ's Triumph ... I couldn't be happier w/ the work they did).  Five hours later Ms Ninja felt like a whole new bike.  The throttle response is smoother, esp in corners, she accelerates in a more linear fashion ... even the exhaust note sounds little more aggressive (could be my imagination).
  The numbers are as follows:

Bph was =     142.04 @ approx 12,500 rpm
Bph is now = 146.95 @ approx 12,500 rpm

Torque was =     68.39 (maxed out at roughly 10,000 rpm)
Torque is now = 71.00 ( 'bout the same rpm)

  The fuel / air ratio improved quite a bit too, but I'm not sure how to word that other than to say it graphed out thusly:
  Dashed line was ideal, original map was below ideal & really up / down irregular.  New map almost followed ideal line all the way w/ minor fluctuations here & there.
  If anyone can describe that (fuel / air ratio as displayed on a Dynojet Research graph) & what that means to the bike's performance I'd love to know.
  In any event, the bike runs great.  It was joy to ride before, it's just heavenly now. =)
  Of course, just when one thing is squared away, three more things pop up: tires (going on 5-6K mi), chain / sprockets (almost 15K mi), front brakes (15K mi?).  Those parts are now on order. =)  By the first of July she ought to be good for a while.

So w/ the Memorial Day weekend looming I thought I'd be presumptuous & post something that's been on my mind for a while. This is the rough draft so I reserve the right to edit it for clarity later. =)

I have & will continue to appreciate the gratitude people express for my years (14 & counting) in uniform (AF & Army) & the deployments I've served in (four thus far). I'm grateful for the beers, the handshakes, the questions (So soldier, what's it really like over there?) & even the opinions both for & against.

What bothers me, to varying degrees on varying days, is the sense I get that some folks feel they've done their civic duty w/ those expressions. Again, don't get me wrong, pretty much every veteran is grateful for their nation's appreciation but as for me personally, not speaking for my fellow service-persons, the following is the kind of thanks I'd like to receive:

Say, please & thank you w/ a smile.

Say, good morning w/ a smile to some of the folks around you.

Let someone else go first.

Hold the door open for others (hold the elevator).  It's a courtesy, not an expression of dominance.

Ask someone if you may help them w/ something (e.g. the frazzled mom trying to herd kids & load groceries simultaneously)

Don't blaze a fiery trail through the yellow light desperately trying to beat the red (esp on Montgomery Blvd NE ... those cameras are dynamite & they're everywhere).

Don't cut people off in traffic unless you have a medical emergency.  In that case pull over, call my friends & I (dial 911).  We live to help you w/ your medical / trauma based crisis.

Get out of the ambulance's way, or fire truck or police car, when they're running w/ lights & sirens blazing.

If you were doing something you weren't supposed to & got caught, take your lumps & don't do it again. Don't blame it on ADD, low thyroid, heartburn, parents, spouse, or society in general.

Take responsibility for things under your care (stewardship). Share the successes & own up to the failures. Do your job 100% & don't let anyone do it for you ... even worse don't MAKE anyone do it for you.

I didn't go to Iraq, or any other deployments, to get a free beer at the corner bar & tell war stories to wide-eyed coeds (altho' that can, at times, be a perk of the profession =) ). Neither did I go to be singled out for cheers on Memorial or Veteran's Day or get out of the occasional speeding ticket.

I went because I believe, for all our faults, the US remains the greatest country on the whole da(rn) planet. I went to preserve our way of life & give us a chance to be a better society, a better country w/ better citizens (better than we are now).

Again, I appreciate the beer, but if you really want to thank me & other like-minded veterans this Memorial Day weekend, go the extra mile for someone, put others ahead of yourself, be the generous, warm-hearted, hardworking, hard playing people Americans have been (still are?) known to be.

(For ending this e-babble in a preposition I offer my apologies to Mom, who homeschooled my siblings & I, & Alice Chavez my 3^rd Grade teacher, both of whom taught me better than that. ) =D

Happy Memorial Day everyone.

... so when I bought my bike last December (ZX-10R for those interested ... plenty pics in the photos section), I joked often about how it was better than the women I've been involved with over the years.  At the time I thought it was pretty slick & sophisticated of me. =)  However I've come to the conclusion that there are stages to the relationship between a guy & his motorcycle much like the stages that one moves through when dating or even marriage:
1. Honeymoon - Everyone's on their best behavior.  A feller will ride his bike conservatively so as not to become a statistic inside the first the few weeks.  Similarly a young man will do his best not to run a young lady off too quickly.

2. Comfort - This is the part when liberties are taken because the guy's firmly squeezed into his comfort zone.  He'll do something that'll insult his lady friend & she'll let him have it (occasionally in spades).  A guy will be comfy on his bike & decide to shoot a gap in traffic, or haul buns through a corner all because he's bad mamma-jamma rider who could take Mat Mladin on his best day (read: expert & bulletproof).  That is to say he'll munch asphalt (hopefully NOT in spades).  The day of disrespect is the day people get hurt.

3. Respect - Everyone lovingly respects each others' boundaries. =)  Guys don't ride their bikes like they were at Road Atlanta, & they do their best not to intentionally put their girlfriends' feathers in a fluff. =)

  That's just an observation on my part. =) ... the 'zen' of biking you might say. =)
  See ya ...
Noah
2 Kings 9: 20b, 10:16

Here's how the day shaped up:
The new tv is on the fritz again & it'll be more than a week before it's even in the shop to be looked at.  Really this was going to be pretty aggravating.  For what I paid for it, this thing ought to work like a champ. =)  For that matter what kind of appliance store doesn't have tech guys working, at least, on Saturday if not the entire weekend?  My sister Elisa loaned me a few movies that would've rocked on the new tube.  All-in-all it's pretty disappointing.
Oh yeah, & the CPR card that was supposed to be ready at the EMS Academy wasn't.  It looks like another week or two before that pans out one way or the other.  Another thing that just didn't work out the way I'd hoped it would.
  Ordinarily I'd look at these events as a singular, insurmountable obstacle to my happiness.
  But last night my sister shared a bit of time & pizza w/ me.  There's naught quite like visiting w/ Elisa.  For me it's nearly always educational, entertaining, & uplifting.  I leave her presence refreshed. =)
  Today I rode w/ a guy I knew from the ambulance service.  We hit the road for a couple hours.  He also rides a Ninja ('04 636).  We took the bikes north up Rio Grande (very scenic) to Alameda.  Stopped for lunch at Rudy's BBQ.  Headed east up Alameda & then up Tramway before heading back down into the valley.
  It's little things like pizza & visiting ... a long motorcycle ride w/ a buddy ... that shine a bit of sunlight into my life & make the rough stuff seem a little less sharp. =)
  The tv's still broken.  I still don't have my CPR card 'as advertised.'  But I'm content having been blessed by people in the last 36hrs or so. =)

... or, Doc Has His First 'Flash-back' Experience. =)

  My partner & I were taking a patient to Presbyterian Hospital the other day.  The individual wasn't critical so we were driving easy (no lights / sirens) as we pulled into the ambulance bay.
  Pres. is undergoing some kind of rennovation so there's a lot of dust & noise & heavy construction-type whatnot going on.
  As we pulled into the (jacked up) parking area, the construction guys started banging away w/ some sort of air-powered jackhammer.
  For the life of me, it sounded (if only for an instant) exactly like a .50cal machine gun.  I jumped, & let out some kind of weird little squeak.  The patient's spouse jumped & looked at me a little concerned like they weren't sure what the problem was; it was only a jackhammer after all ... what's wrong w/ the ambulance driver, eh?
  All I could think to do was look at the passenger & chuckle lamely,  "Whoo-ee, I just got back from Iraq a month ago.  I guess my PTSD's kicking in finally."
  The spouse chuckled lamely as if to say, 'Get us away from this lunatic.'
  Another one of Pres' hospitals is undergoing some sort of parking rennovations.  They're using smaller jackhammers that sounded like M249 SAW's. =)  I jumped again ... this time only my paramedic partner was in front. =)
  I wonder if I can get money from the gov't for this?  D'you think? =)  Probably not.  Anyway it hasn't happened since.  Strangely enough it's meant some pretty boring days. =)

Ok ... so I got "tagged" yesterday by Myrtle. =)  After spending some time trying to compile Six Wierd Things About Me I came up w/ the following.

1.  I go through musical phases on an almost weekly basis: one week it's all country music (Don Williams, George Strait, etc), the next it's rock (Rob Zombie, Nickelback, & so forth), after that a week of classical (mostly various guitar composers / performers).  Thanks to the new cd, we're in a Rob Zombie week. =)

2.  I'm 34yo & own a Kawasaki ZX-10R ... that just doesn't seem like 'acting my age.' =)

3.  I'm 'cameraman-smart' instead of really smart.  That means I've been exposed to a variety of 'stuff' when I was an active duty video-photog for the Air Force.  Very little of the trivial tid-bits I've absorbed over the years will make me rich ... actually none of them will make me rich. =)

4.  I'm pretty sociable in small groups but useless in a crowd (four or more people).

5.  I appreciate things & values which are considered unsophisticated & old-fashioned (i.e. of no use in the 'modern' world).

6.  I feel the need to clarify myself in long-winded explanations to obtuse comments made in response to simple questions. =)  That means I've a tendency to babble when a short answer would've sufficed. =D

  So there you have it.  Six things which make me a wierdo. =)  Remember, I'm also single, a pretty good cook, & took a semester of massage therapy.  Tell all your girlfriends. =)