Posts

Showing posts from 2021

INDIAN RIDERS FEST 2022

Image
Gotta admit....  this is COOL.  They kicked it up in 2019, and of course .. wuhan crap nulled '20 and '21 .. but ... they are back and in full force.  Tamara Smith attended back in '19 and I was Jelly as hell; swore I'd attend the next one... but ...  not to be for now.   My '22 schedule is completely swamped and to be honest... not sure it calls to me like it used to .. more to follow on that.  I wrote about this two years ago :  THE ULTIMATE INDIAN MOTORCYCLE EVENT OF 2020!!!    It wasn't to be but 2019 was a blowout and looked awesome.  Had that pandemic not hit, would have been epic?  One has to believe, '22s WILL be epic.  Read they have over 30 countries represented and over 1,000 registrations with over six months to go... not bad? They look to be doing a parade of bikes, but thank god they aren't doing the 'Guinness' crap. That whole thing gets friggn' old.  Still, I'll be smiling if they have 700+ Indians in a parade

Carvana Part II

Image
 Well, few weeks ago I'd wrote about all this here >>    CARVANA   .  I can now take a look back and do a true review on it all ..... Was it a good experience?  YES Would I do it again?  YES Would I recommend them?  YES Not to repeat any of my previous blog linked above ... once we got delivery of the Macan, within a few days I took it to the new Porsche dealer in McKinney.  This place is brand new .. but...  Justin, my service guy handling everything has over ten years with the company, moving from the Dallas area dealership.  The mechanics are all experienced and many came over from the other dealership.  So, I had a warm fuzzy.   They did a thorough inspection of the Macan and found two things.  The rear brakes were close to needing replacement and their was an oil leak from the motor.  They thought it was the valve cover gasket, but turned out to be related to the timing chain cover.  Either way, all this was expensive to fix; make right.  So, I contacted Carvana since I

TGIF Ride Day!

Image
 Chief offered to take me to lunch early in the week.. thought I was busy, then today cleared up on the schedule.  We checked the weather, looked great, so put out the ride specifics to see if anyone would join us, but no-go.  Got two nibbles by Maestro and Rocky, but at 1030 hrs was just the two of us.  Headed South to Ben Wheeler via 2 lane sweepers and within an hour we were sitting at The Forge sipping cold ones.  On the way back, took a diff' route than normal to change it up with a stop at Gilligan's for a final cold one(s).  When we left was in the low 70s, when we finished, low 80s.  Possibly one of the best rides for the whole month of December? 142 miles of TX Heaven Bam!  Perfecto ......... Chose KRUSH to ride today  Ready ! The two Amigos Been awhile since I'd been here at the Forge My Lunch ROCKED! Front n' Center!  One of my all time fav places  Headed home.... ... over Lake Tawakoni 

Weekend in Harlingen

Image
Wouza.  Brother Dick and I jumped on the bikes this past weekend and knocked out 1500 miles over Fri-Sun.  Started off about 67deg but once it hit 75 around noon, we never saw temps below that ... perfecto!  Sometimes I'd like to split these up into two day trips so you can 'do more' but for this one a quick 580 down and 580 back ...   left us all day Saturday to have a blast. Only way we could have topped it was to take a day and spend it on South Padre Island.  Maybe.. next year? Anyways... here's the breakdown of it all.  Posted this over on my CMVA Blog  Pearl Harbor Remembrance Ride

Indian Ambassador

Image
 Get the email and I'm thinking .. hell ya .. what the hell .. I'm in!   A shoe in, right?   I saw where somebody whom is one attended an event up North ...  I'd done a quick profile look up and was sort of snickering.... I mean, they rode a completely diff' brand up until a year prior to becoming... 'ambassador'! .. so ... I of course thought it was funny .. still .. I sort of get it...    BUT.. had corporate known the person was attending, guessing they might have had a problem with it?  js  Anyways...   I click on Apply Now.. and ready to start filling it all in .. but.. we've got a small problem .. haha. Responsibilities: Execute a minimum of 2 activities a month: Promote Indian Motorcycle in a positive light with friends, family, and anyone who may seek advice Organize and attend motorcycle events throughout the season Partner with your local dealer to help host and promote fun events throughout the year Post on your social media about a ride/event/your

Carvana

Image
 Lucy has been asking me to sell her Boxster for some time now.  It's rarely driven and ...  to be honest, lil too small for me.  The few times I do, I drop the top, tear up the two laners and ..... she complains that I sweat too much ...and ... then it smells like sweat.  What!?!?!  ME?  lol   Sooooooo... I succumbed.  Put it out on Social Media seeing if I had any bites.... nada .. zilch.  I'd have sold it for $40k, below book to friends or family. Awesome '15 with only 13k miles on it, and like brand new.  Oh Well.  I ask the Porsche dealer and they offer me 40k ( I paid about 53k for it 4 or 5 years ago, 2 years old).  I'm thinking hmmmm.. not too bad.  That night I see a Carvana commercial on TV and think .. hey ... wtf.. let's give it a try. Within minutes I have an offer of about 42k.  I'm thinking .. 'really?'   What the hell .. I'm in .  I have to make a copy of my drivers license ... upload... fine.  Then of the odometer... fine.   Well, we

New Pool, MS Home : Part II

Image
Few months ago while down at the MS home, decided to drop in a pool with the new home.  I wrote about that decision here: New Pool:MS Home .  We wrote a check on the 13th of September to get on 'the list' hoping it would begin construction in Jan of '22 but ....  by mid October they were digging.  Here we are a month later and they poured concrete for the massive deck around it yesterday.  By January, this will be 100% complete.  That's when they were supposed to start! What started off as a fair budget for a nice pool (20x40' with a deck), has taken on a life of it's own.  Added a wall on the back side with waterfalls.  Added a heater for the winter swims. Added electronics for Wi-Fi connectivity.  Added travertine tile for the deck.  Increased the size of the deck.  Adding a high end fence around 1/2 the property.  The list goes on and on.  Hell, I find myself thinking I should have made this thing at least 20% bigger.  Lets just say... the cost as I type this

Small Town Living - LTD

Image
Friday morning met up with the Sis for breakfast at Glenda's Café here in Greenville.  One of those small old town cafe's many of us grew up with, or for others that they see in the old movies. We've got several of them around me; four quickly come to mind in the county itself. Well, rolled in around 0900 to a full house, waiting for them to clean off the only remaining table and we're quickly sipping some coffee and catching up.   About the time I order this crazy huge breakfast for $8.99, my old buddy Friendlee rolls in and sits a few tables away unaware of me there yet.  Stroll over and catch up and the first thing he's saying is " WOW!  I was just thinking of you and Leanne!"   Hell, I was just thinking of him the other day so sounds about right.  Hadn't seen him in awhile, but he's a cornerstone in our community with his own radio show and all.   Well, back to my table to get some grub when I get a text from Brother Dick asking about lunch sin

Medical Insurance - Mexico

I was leaving Cozumel several years back. Middle aged couple were next to me all banged up. They were on scooters and a local took them out; almost. They had to come up with $4500.00 for the emergency room costs and Scooter damage or would be put in jail ( they were told). Obviously weren't leaving the island until the bill was paid. My takeaway from that... ALWAYS take the vehicle insurance when you rent down in that area. I always take out trip insurance for the medical as well. And.... I always have a couple of credit cards tucked away with lots of room on them.  Well, few days ago I saw this post on a FB group that got me to thinking about it all over again "We are in the middle of our vacation staying at the Palace (we love it there- have been several times), but right now I am in the hospital in Playa Del Carmen because my husband had an emergency appendectomy last night. We are scheduled to go home Sunday. The reason for my post is that we were told by our insurance car

115!

Image
 Like I need another?  I've got several YETIs, but I don't have a 115 AND .. .this one has wheels!   Then throw in the divider which converts to being used above the ice for snacks, cutting, whatever.. and .. I'm in! HOOKED Coolers

Crazy Stock Market

Image
 Sometimes, you just hold on for the Ride!   I unloaded some stocks last month because of the Volatiility of the Market.  Moved a lot of that into some Index Mutual Funds.  Then .. bam...  it continues to rise ...   world is going to shit, and the market .. somehow.. goes up and up . And to change things up, ordered another shitload of Coins via SD Bullion !  World goes to shit, I'll have ample qty of Gold, Silver and ... 'lead' ... to make it all work? Main Brokerage account continues to Grow!

Mississippi Carport

Image
 The new home is a gem .. but... the underneath ceiling was never finished off. Previous owner considered it but never began the project.   Though the underneath was sprayed with insulation foam, wasn't protected from rodents, nor was it appealing to the eye.  So, the project begins.  I have to admit, I had some sticker shock but after seeing the weeks of work and detail, worth every dollar.  Next, fence in the back yard for the Pool! Screenshot from a 2min long video (for historical purposes) Two weeks in, almost ready for paint!   Looking better than I'd ever expected it to! Nov 3, 2021 UPDATE 22 NOV 21: Ooooooh yes.  SEXY comes to mind.  Never thought it'd look THIS good!  Worth every friggn' penny in the long run.  BAM!

Pull the Plug!

Image
 Hahaha.. .my daily routine.   Log into multiple accounts, verify .. .and ...   wait. Ready to pull the plug.  Changed up the numbers recently to take us to 100 vs 85.  We'll make it, unless the world goes to shit (as in continues on it's current path). But... I don't have a crystal ball, just some facts to play with.  Numbers I'm leveraging are 'significantly below average'.  If I select average, well... everything looks rosy.  Almost pulled the plug a few weeks ago .. but...  hey ... this ride ain't over yet.  Maybe a new Trike is in my future.. it could happen.   THE PLAN Someone forgot to plan?  This is going to hurt! OUCH!

Galveston ... hasta luego baby

Image
Galveston Island  Twenty five years of good times....   starting in the late 90's and as of today (!), sold our second/final home on the island.  Truly gut wrenching decision for me since we love going down there so much.  Hell, just a lil' over a year ago we were considering buying a third (selling the other two to buy it) on the canals nearer the bay side.  A truly beautiful home with a pool and garages that we could have moved to full time.  We made an offer, but wouldn't pay the asking price. When we opted not to do that one, I think it may have set things in motion mentally.  Additionally, we'd been going down to the coast in MS more often to see my nephew and his family for Jeep events.  The more we went there, the more I appreciated it and saw some glaring differences that I couldn't ignore. My neighborhood - Karankawa Beach My neighborhood - Karankawa Beach   Galveston has always been about the ease and simplicity of getting to the Gulf quickly for my family

New Pool : MS Home

Image
 About a month or so ago ... I came around to the idea of a pool at the new Vaca' Home in MS, on the Gulf Coast.  At first I was like "hell no!" but it gets hot there as well during the summer months , we have a large back yard, we just sold our second home in Galveston (avail pool funds!) and ....  last trip down the more I looked around, the more pools I saw.  Screw it .. I'm in! This is a change-up for us in contrast to our Greenville, TX pool we put in about 20 yrs ago.   This one has a modern look.  Rick n' Holly just put one in and I hate to admit it ...but.. this one looks really similar. It wasn't intentional but  I do love their pool so maybe that lined up a few brain cells on my part.  On the Pool Company's web site they had a few that caught our eye.. and ...  similar to the Dittel's pool.  So, we changed things up a lil, went 'all in' on a few features and it's begun. I signed up with a down payment last trip to ensure we got o