Dragoon said:
David,
Please keep posting, I always look forward to your threads and responses. I am a newbie in comparison, but I am trying to catch up.
Congrads. You are the type of person that makes this a GREAT forum.
Cheers
Paul
Paul, those are very complimentary words. Thank you.
Let me say that I'm not "leaving" for other pastures, but have been inundated with life happening. I could easily quit work & spend 100% of my time with my children. I envy my stay-at-home wife more than she'll ever know, even tho she doesn't believe I have any clue how hard it is (I was home with them the first two weeks after each child/children was/were born. I do know what it's like, and I do get more doses of it every day after work.
Add to that the idea that I'm trying to get to a point in my life where I can fire my employer & have both active income & residual income, and life gets a lot more complex. I'm working on getting me Real Estate license - not so I can sell houses, but so that I can buy them - buy/fix/sell (some folks call it "flipping" them, I prefer to call it "renewing" them & definitely not "rehabbing" them, tho that's the most common name). We did one, & that was enough to show me where I need more knowledge - which the RE license will give me access to - the MLS, so I'll know what a house will sell for before I make an offer on it. It's like taking the specialized courses for a major in trying to get your bachelor's degree. I've been there & done that & got the sheepskin to prove it - 27 hrs per year while working full time & getting pregnant, having the baby, & then graduating when Emily was 9 months old, with a 3.47 gpa. Life is a lot different now with 3 kids, & I can't even begin to describe what it's like - it's beyond my own comprehension except that I'm right in the middle of this movie that is my life. It's absolutely wonderful & I wouldn't trade it for the world. I wouldn't wish twins on anyone, but I wouldn't trade them for the world. Well, maybe world peace with me as the supreme leader, but nothing short of that - & only that because of the greater good.
So, I have been checking in occasionally. Not nearly as regularly as I once did. Heck, in the days before this version of the forum, I was posting daily, participating in every thread. That carried over to this version of the forum & lasted for a while. But, maturity (in a lot of senses) seems to bring some new qualities to life. I've given my share of dissertations on safety & working to stay safe. I've poured my mind & heart into discussions about loud pipes, helmets, along with analyzing some of the wrecks that have happened to some of us (myself included).
I've gotten to where I have very few technical questions anymore. Part of that is because I've done enough reading to realize that at some point, the only thing that really ever matters is simply getting up off my butt & figuring out how to make something work my own self. A lot of THAT is simply from having the attitude that one NEVER fails, one only succeeds at finding new ways that don't work. So, this chair in my home office has put me at that point where I have to make the motorcycle the way I want it to be, & I can't even think about someone else doing it.
And then, there's the reall bigie. I put in my request to have 36 hour days - 36 hour days with the same 8 hours of work & the same 6 hours of sleep - so that I could get done what I really need to accomplish each day. I don't have much hope for that request to ever get granted - at least not on this rock floating thru space. So, the only thing left to do is maximize the time available.
Children are usually in bed by 7 pm. The twins, strangely enough, sleep thru the night with much less waking up than does the 5 year old. Almost every night, she comes into our room & asks if she can sleep in our bed with us. The answer is always "no." Still, I can't help but think that it happens because she slept in our bed the first three months she was alive, & in her crib in our bedroom for the next 9 months, until we finally moved her crib into her own room shortly after she turned 1. The twins? Well, they've been in their own room (sharing one - I'm not giving up the office, at least not in THIS house), since the get-go, with very few instances where we set up the travel cribs in our room - always was a mistake. We thought it would bring them some security, but all they wanted to do was play. Life's lessons here.
So, everyone is usually sleeping in their own rooms by 7 pm - 8 pm for Emily when she's had a good day. That gives us at least a few hours to manage our own lives. But, I only get those 90 minutes from the time I get home in the evening until the twins go to bed. Life truly is too short. And that, in a round-about way, is the reason why I've been pretty scarce around here lately - moreso than ever before.
Oh, Crazy Dave doesn't need me to stroke his feathers when he writes he awesome prose that we are so privileged to be privy to. Sanoke doesn't need my compliments on his awesome pictures. The weekly "Caption This" goes strongly without my input. "What I learned this week" is that I don't have to put in my 2 cents for the thread to get well filled up with thoughtful & poignent responses. & I'm not going to get involved in the pipes or helmets discussions because it's extremely doubtful that anyone participating is going to change their minds anyway. And, I don't get into the oil discussions because I'm not so chemically knowledgeable.
But, what I do know is that every inch of the road is a hazard & we can't let our guard down for even one of those inches. Yes, the journey IS the destination, yet the destination must be enjoyed without incident, accident, or wreck. THAT is one of the things that has captured my heart about riding a bike. It's not that I'm in the open air, smelling the fajita seasonings that the spice company is bottling when I'm on the way to work & ride past their building. It's not that I'm free from the confines of normal routine. It's that my mind must be clear in order for me to focus on the ride. Watching every inch of the road means I have no room in my consciousness for anything else. And, whenever I get where I'm going, I have a clear mind.
And yet, with three kids tugging at my shirt tails, and the wife saying "Can you please ..." and trying to balance those with the 40 hour work week AND the desire to make a career for myself away from your friendly, neighborhood, global telecommunications company (which shall remain nameless except to say that it's only 3 letters & the first one is the first letter & the other two repeat themselves), well, there just aren't enough hours in the day.
However, once the money machine is doing the house thing for fun & profit, then there will be many more opportunities to enjoy the things I WANT to do, without being so inundated by the things I NEED to do, and, worse yet, the things I MUST do. Too many levels of need, and I'm still working on the bottom one & haven't yet achieved a higher goal.
No, I'm not leaving. I'm not pulling a Hornberger (Chornbe). I can't blame him for doing so. I'm sure there is much more valuable info for him in whatever pasture he'll choose to graze. But, it's necessary for me to achieve balance. Not balance as in equalizing time, but balance as in applying the time required/available to the things that need it.
So, I'm around. Any questions for me & I'm a quick PM away from a response - probably quicker than anyone might think (except for those who have PM'd me). And, I'm planning one other thing. I've gotten a bunch of PMs regarding my bags & my seat. I'm planning on writing up the "usual response" that I've been giving, including a few pictures, & then posting that. It'll certainly save time to have that posted rather than answering the same question a dozen times - which I don't mind sharing, but it's just not an efficient method of communicating.
So, PM me if I don't respond to a particular thread & I'll definitely take a look-see. PM me if there are questions about something/anything & I'll give what I consider to be a pretty quick response with as well of a thought out answer. And, ESPECIALLY PM me if you're planning on being in San Antonio at any point in town. I can't promise a bike ride thru the scenic Texas Hill Country. Heck, I can't even promise fajitas & Margaritas. But, I will promise that I'll try, & what I truly try - I usually accomplish.
And, this makes post # 2001 (but WHO's really counting?).
But, except for the last few days, I haven't even lurked for a couple of weeks. And, I expect more of the same for the rest of the year.
