RickkciR

I crack myself up.   Last week saw a 'memories' post pop up on FB.  Was from last year.  Sounded like something I'd just said/posted.   Every few weeks, another pops up from last year... 3 years.. 10 years .....  you start to see a trend.  Injured.  Back in the Gym.  Lost Weight. Gained Weight.    Huh.   If there is a positive, it's something I came across two days ago when looking for an old pic.  There I was in 2004 in the pool ...  if not for my grayed out hair and a couple of wrinkles.. it could have been taken today.   Huh.  So of course, that got me to thinking. One part of me is nauseated by the repeat of it all.  I'm guessing anyone that has connected the dots and seen the pattern is nauseated by it all too (IE my wife is!).  BUT.....  the upside is...  The last decade and a half, kept from going off the deep end.  Well, there were a few close calls. At leas...

This is the yet another in a series,  about our trip. Post 1: Two Straps ... Post 2: No Straps needed or possible Post 3 : Motorcycle Cruise in the Caribbean ... a great time .... well, almost Post 4 REVIEW: ETA Motorcycle Cruises , LLC Part 5: ETA Insurance Maze  After posting my first review, I of course realized that I wish I'd covered this or that.. but ...  left it alone and moved on.   However, last night I had an interesting chat with another person that was on our ETA Cruise earlier this month and to my surprise, they echoed many of my own concerns.   Up until yesterday, I'd kept most of all this (ETA related Blog posts) to 'myself'.  I mean, they were here, but I didn't send them all to the folks were traveling with us.  I didn't post them to the ETA related pages out there.  I simply, posted them to my own Blog as I always do.  They will be searchable in the near future as Search Engines index them...

This past week we were in Galveston for Mardi Gras.   Between good eats, bars and parades, we made it to the gym.  My plan was to hit it several times, every other day .. but..... We have one over near Pirates Beach (West End Gym) and Jamaica Beach (Gymaica Gym).  Pricing them out reminded me of the old days when I did a lot of business travel and hit the local gyms.  Short version and to the point, $10 a person, per day.  Now you can do $40 for the week, $80 for the month or sign up for a year at $40/mo but .. are you kidding me?   Planet Fitness has $10/mo option with no contracts or $20/mo ($275 a year approx total) and you can use them nationwide.  Except, we don't have one on the Island.  I've got a full blown commercial quality gym in my garage here at home .. but .. that's not on the Island.  So.... we did one workout ( that was over $22 for one hour , in and out , for the two of us).  Sorry .. that's just fucking thef...

Guessing it was around 15 months ago we were in Cozumel on a big dive trip with family and friends.   We kicked it up big time.   As usual hundreds and hundreds of pics were taken and archived off.  I went through the mix deleting redundant / duplicate pics and stumbled across one of what appeared to be me.  I was in complete shock.   Getting out of the pool, my belly was yanked further down by gravity showing me what I really looked like, when not sucking it in.   It was ugly. Buddy of mine, Steve Foster was on that trip smiling and relaxing, leaner than I'd seen him in well... forever.   Turns out he was on a KETO diet and down about 40 lbs that trip (more since).  In my mind I was thinking I'd heard of this before and it wasn't good. But his quick overview of it sent me to the 'net when I got home.  And most if not everything I read was good.  My biggest concern was the potential of losing muscle over fat, b...

This is the yet another in a series,  about our trip. Post 1: Two Straps ... Post 2: No Straps needed or possible Post 3 : Motorcycle Cruise in the Caribbean ... a great time .... well, almost Post 4 REVIEW: ETA Motorcycle Cruises , LLC I travel to Mexico at least once a year since 2004.  One of the costs I always incur is travel insurance.  I initially bought it because of "what if I can't go" and need a refund.  On the opposite end of the spectrum, friends of ours 'self insure' and never buy it.  They've never needed it and argue it pays for another vacation in itself with the money they save.  About 10 years ago we were in Cozumel departing for the US when we came across another couple who were banged up and telling their story.  They'd both rented mopeds but found themselves in an accident.  A local caused it, the mopeds had damage and they'd gone to the hospital. Here's where it got interesting to me.  The...

This is the final post in a series of 4,  about our trip. Post 1: Two Straps ... Post 2: No Straps needed or possible Post 3 : Motorcycle Cruise in the Caribbean ... a great time .... well, almost The Review  I've never found a real review about this agency, even though it's been in operation for 20 years.   Before locking in with them for a  JAN/FEB 2020 cruise, I did a lot of research.  Most info was found on Cruise Ship forums or Motorcycle Forums.   Found  a few YouTube Videos.  Otherwise .. nada.  Zilch.  Nothing.   So, here's my review of our trip and the LLC.   It's an honest, no biased overview.  That being said, we had an incident happen that I will cover in detail.  Some might say I'm butt hurt. Some might say, "there is one in every group".   On the contrary, I just didn't drink the KoolAid.  When the smoke cleared, one question has been asked to me multip...

This is the 3rd post in a series of 4,  about our trip. Post 1: Two Straps ... Post 2: No Straps needed or possible About a year ago, the Dittels were visiting us again down on Galveston Island.  I'd just recently stumbled across a video of motorcycles riding in the Islands of the Caribbean transported by a 'normal' cruise ship.   Years before, I'd had a conversation with someone about riding Indian Motorcycles in Cuba, where I laughed at the idea.  Transporting the bikes, customs, security .. you name it, would be a nightmare.  But, here I was looking at something even better in my mind, and it had my attention.  After investigating it deeper, it became apparent to me that the owner of ETA Motorcycle Cruises, had cracked the code.  Apparently, he cracked it over 20 years ago.  Now, how the hell had I never heard of this? Everyone I know for the most part, had never heard of it.  Well Brother ...