Saturday, June 07, 2008

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Space is full of stars: Which we can see only when away from our light polluted cities. Get away, now!

Posted by Digital Quixote in • Out and About
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Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Last Friday, three Duc’s were spotted flying North!

My daughter on her Ducati Monster, my son-in-law on his Ducati Supersport, and I on my Ducati ST3 took off for our annual road trip. Here’s at least part of the story.

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Every adventure deserves to be started with a proper breakfast, in our case croissants and café au lait from a local French bakery. This steeled us for the first part of our ride in pouring rain. Within 30 minutes we rode out of the rain and dried out by the time we reached the border with Canada.

We crossed the border without incident. My daughter, who went first, drew about 10 minutes of scrutiny; my son-in-law about 5; and I skated by with a cursory nod. Consistent answers to the standard questions were growing tiresome for the guards.

You need to understand that while one Ducati might turn heads, three are quite unusual. When we reached the Ferry Landing at Tsawwassen, we met some other riders. These riders had one question top of mind … do you guys work for Ducati. Sadly, no! But we got to know them a little and they us. I find when I am wearing motorcycle gear; I seem to be more outgoing.

After the two hour crossing, we ran on up to Parksville for the night. We stayed in a low-budget place; on the beach, but otherwise nothing to write home about. As we were removing our gear, my daughter asked, “What do you do while you ride?” I responded that I sang to myself. It turns out all three of us did and, among other things, the song we all sang was the old Monkeys song “Last Train to Clarksville.” And interestingly, we all substituted Parksville for Clarksville. The beach did have a killer sunset. And it was the venue for the first international rock skipping invitational wherein the treachery of age proudly defeated the energy and enthusiasm of youth! Go age!!

Our next destination was Campbell River. For years friends have been going to Campbell River to fish for salmon and have spoken of it with a reverence only a fisherman can understand. For that reason, our destination was larger than life for me. But fishing was not our mission. The road was fine but once we got there, it was merely a gas stop. The main event was yet to come; the subsequent leg to Gold River.

Gold River is the platonic purity of the notion, “It’s not the destination, but the journey.” When you ride motorcycles, the road is everything. A perfect road is: 1) Good pavement; 2) Good engineering; 3) Plenty of twisty turns; 4) Good scenery; and 5) A great place to eat at the end. We developed a protocol for riding turns … if a turn was caution posted at 60 km, we’d take it at 60 mph. Do the math and you find it’s almost 2x the caution speed. Perfect for 3 Duc’s flying north. We scuffed up the sides of our tires. We ran into a couple of riders at a park side pullout, one on a big BMW bike and one on a Honda trike (2 wheels forward, one to the rear) and they were impressed at our speeds. Hmm, felt normal to us.

Next day we made a great run out to Tofino. MPH was the new KPH again. But on this road the pavement wasn’t as good. My son-in-law observed that he saw a Volkswagen and a Vespa at the bottom of one of the holes he crossed. On the way back we saw the Island’s largest tree. Not quite in the same league as the world’s largest ball of twine, but pretty cool all the same!

On our way back from Tofino we stopped in Port Alberni for gas and to stretch our legs. We wandered down to the local pier where Nick and Carolyn goofed off with a local statue. While we were goofing off, a 10 year old dressed in jeans and a T-Shirt came up to me and asked why were wearing these funny suits. I told him we were riding motorcycles and these cloths kept us from getting killed. Then I asked him why he was wearing his funny suit. Big grin on his part he responded, “So I can play!” I think I like his answer better than mine!

Our next destination was Port Renfrew. To get there we rode through Chemainus. What a great little town with many many cool murals.

Look closely ...

Two years ago my daughter and I rode from Victoria to Jordan River, part way to Port Renfrew. This trip we rode from Victoria, through Jordan River, and on to Port Renfrew. The first half seemed easier, like they had straightened the road. Maybe we’re just better on our bikes! The second half was an agony of busted pavement. Nice destination, but not worth the bucking bronco ride, in my opinion. If you go … turn back at the burger shack at Jordan River! Or repent your decision later.

Time to head home; we took the ferry from Sydney to Anacortes, and then main roads and freeways back home. Turns out the Border Guard in Sydney was a biker and owned a Ducati S2R (the S2R is a high-powered version of my daughter’s Monster). We got more questions about our bikes than about purchases, fruits and vegetables, nationality, or the validity of our passports.

After the 1,000 mile trip I am reminded of one of the reasons I ride:  Riding motorcycles is a great social leveler. In my gear and on my bike, I feel comfortable talking to folks I’d be afraid of if I met them on the street. Rich and poor, tough and meek, young and old, scruffy or geared up … we can relate to each other because of the context of our interest. We can check our rank, social status, and net worth at the door and simply relate to each other.

Not a bad outcome, wouldn’t you say?

Posted by Digital Quixote in • Motorcycles
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Sunday, June 01, 2008

It took me awhile to figure this out.

If I send an email to a bad address, I get back an error. Want to know what happens if I send a physical letter through the US Postal Service to a bad address? Or to no address at all?

Firstly, the USPS keeps the postage. Then there’s this error message which intrigues me.

I wonder if the Grand Poobah of USPS error messages has gone on to work for Internet companies?

Posted by Digital Quixote in • Out and About
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Monday, May 26, 2008

Posted by Digital Quixote in • and Automobiles
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Saturday, May 24, 2008

I recently received a letter in the postal mail. It was from the Republican National Committee soliciting a donation. It started out asking if I had abandoned the Republican Party. It struck me as a thoughtful question, so I wrote a letter back to the RNC with my thoughtful response. Here’s my letter. Consider it an open letter to the RNC:

Tim Morgan
RNC Treasurer
310 First Street, S.E.
Washington, DC 20003
Dear Tim,

In your recent solicitation you asked, “Have you abandoned the Republican Party … Have you given up?” It was a thoughtful question and deserves a thoughtful response.

And my thoughtful answer, right now, is that I’m not sure, but possibly. The more important question for me, right now, is has the Republican Party given up on me?

By way of context, I have been a lifelong republican. My father was a lifelong republican and served in Montana’s legislature as a Senator. I have held fiscally conservative views and values for as long as I can remember. It is clear to me that the Party has given up on fiscal conservatism, at least when judged by its actions.

As a businessman, I have held pro-business views and values for as long as I can remember.  While it may not have given up on this, the Party has proven ineffective at developing the kind of bi-partisan collaboration that will preserve a pro-business environment in the US.

In the brief history of the US, our country has stood for what’s right. Through our role in the world wars and subsequent rebuilding, we have earned the respect of the world. With our steadfast support of inalienable human rights, we have refrained from bullying the world, and increased the world’s respect for us. With our focus on innovation and invention, we have led the world in creating a vibrant and entrepreneurial economy second to none, engendering incredible respect. The Party has squandered the currency of world respect with its bullying, and torture and democratic imperialism.

In the past, the country held to a steadfast foreign policy. Other nations of the world could count on our steadfast behavior. And while we might disagree, our positions were well reasoned, consistently applied, and the country was reassuringly predictable. The Party has failed this tradition and can’t seem to get out of its own way anymore. The country has become dangerously inconsistent, which understandably causes other nations to fear our bi-polar behavior, fear the potential for retribution, fear the inconstancy of our support, fear they will become the object of American bullying.

Our country was founded on the premise of religious freedom; freedom for all to pursue the religious traditions of their choice. The following words are engraved on the walls of the Jefferson Memorial in Washington DC:

“No man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship or ministry or shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief. But all men shall be free to profess and by argument to maintain their opinions in matters of religion.”
The Party has failed to live up to these ideals. Worse, the Party has acted to countervene these principles and has become a political advocate for the Christian right.

It is the role of government, and thereby the role of its elected members to secure the safety and freedom of the country. George W. Bush, as our President, is the representative of the Republican Party. He and the Party, because of the failings above, have left this nation less safe, less secure, and certainly less peaceful than the country they inherited nearly eight years ago. The Party has failed to live up to its stewardship responsibility to leave the country in better shape than when they received it.

Perhaps unreasonably, I expect the Party to take the long view when it comes to issues which threaten the country. The Party has become dangerously short sighted. For example, possibly the most significant issue facing us is energy independence. The US must find a way to reduce to near zero our reliance on carbon-based fuels. We must make the investments required to invent and commercialize renewable energy sources – solar, wind, tidal and hydrogen. And in the interim, we must make a very substantial 50-year commitment to nuclear – to give invention and commercialization time to work. The Party is focusing too little attention on this issue. The cost of this failure will be $40 / gallon gasoline and World War with China before 2050!

I believe our government, at least its Executive and Legislative branches, have failed in the most profound way to seek what’s best for this country. The Party has failed miserably but they have not failed alone. So too has the Democratic Party failed in this manner. The Party has failed twice, spending the currency of cooperation with and respect for their Democratic colleagues.

Just to be clear, when I refer to the Party, I am referring specifically to George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, members of the Cabinet, Party leaders in Congress, and Party Senators and Representatives who are failing to represent me. I voted for George W. Bush, twice. He and his government are an embarrassment, to me personally.

You asked if I had given up on the Party. I have certainly given up what might have been considered blind faith in the Party.

The Party has an opportunity to regain my respect, and even my support. Let Senator McCain’s candidacy show us how the Party will atone for these failures. Let it show us that the behavior of a possible future government will restore America’s credibility in the world. Let it give us confidence it will face the big issues the country faces with an open, honest face and an objective respect for the facts. Let it show me a plan to regain the world’s respect. Let it demonstrate that America can be safer and more at peace in four years, and in eight.

It is not only the Republican Party that has this opportunity. So too does the Democratic Party and whichever of its two leading presidential candidates might prevail during the primaries. The candidacy of Senators Obama and Clinton preach a litany of hope in a Democratic presidency and are generating high expectations for change. But Democrats and their candidate should take caution. If a Democrat is elected and if he or she fails to live up to these now-higher expectations for positive change – the backlash will be incredible. It will constitute a political tsunami which will sweep Republicans back into government for decades. 

Respectfully,

Feel free to use any or all of this, in a letter to the candidate (or party) of your choice. In fact feel free to send this to anyone you wish as a link or via copy and past.

Posted by Digital Quixote in • Politics
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