Me against the world

I think I might be turning into a grumpy old man. I was heating up some dinner tonight when the doorbell rings. I stroll over expecting to see one of the neighborhood kids, when I see an older gentlemen holding a clipboard. I know it's going to be long Presidential election process, but this soon? "Hi, I'm so and so representing so and so who is trying to get speed bumps installed along the street to slow down traffic. I was wondering if you would be willing to sign my petition?" Immediately, I repond with a "I like like speeding." He seems a little shocked and slightly offended, but quickly leaves. Now, after my wife pointed out that my response may have been a little rude, I defended myself to her by saying I was honest.

Now, the interesting thing is that I do like speeding, but I do live in a neighborhood that has a lot of kids, and I have noticed that people do seem to speed. The posted speed limit is 25 mph, buy myself and many other people seem to be doing 30-35 mph. I do see the gentleman's point about wanting to slow down traffic, so I started thinking, as I like to do. I'm a car guy, and I HATE speed bumps. Driving a lowered car over speed bumps just plain sucks.

There are a few side streets in Lafayette, that would actually allow people to cut through neighborhoods from one major street to another, but their are speed bumps installed, so traffic avoids those streets like the plague.

Why not install a couple stop signs instead of speed bumps? There are quite a few intersections that could be set up with a 3-way stop. This would definately slow traffic down. People almost completely stop at the speed bumps anyway, and you would be completely without the annoying up-down motion. There might be a little additional wear on people's brake systems, but there would be less wear on the suspension. Is it just me, or is it the world? Maybe it's just the engineer in me searching for a better solution.

Being healthy is great!

I'm finally starting to feel better, and it's amazing how much more energy and motivation I have. It's been almost 3 months since I had an MRI that showed that I had a herniated disk in my lower back. I believe an extended mountain bike ride with a co-worker started the fire in my back, but the bonfire had been building for years of slouching and bad posture habits. After 6 weeks of physical therapy, I'm finally starting to feel normal again. It's interesting what a little exercise and stretching will do to make you better. So, what's one of the first things I did? I washed and waxed the Little Red Racecar, and finally took a picture of it. Then, I sold it. Well almost. I have it for a few more weeks, but it is spoken for by a friend of mine in Lafayette. I'm going to miss it. It's been a lot of fun, and unfortunately I never got around to putting the turbo on it, but I did learn a lot about Civics. The 92-95 Civic really is the Mustang of the import world.


UK update: I'm slowing moving through the process of checking the boxes next to the long list of things to do to move to the UK for work, but things are moving along. Work permit has been filled out, passport has been sent off to be renewed, physical exams and shots took place, salary was negotiated, waiting on work permit approval and work agreement paperwork. Then, the packing and moving begin...

Heading across the pond

Well, I'm about 95% sure at this point that Dena and I will be moving to Aberdeen, Scotland. Ah yes, the land of castles, lochs, whiskey, and learning to drive on the wrong side of the road. It's a biker's paridise, when the weather is nice. I'm getting really excited. I'll be going over on a 3 year work assignment to support the UK, Norway, Kazahkstan, and other parts of Europe.

I love red!!!

My Christmas and birthday gift finally arrived today! I've been needing a tool chest for the top of my tool box for a while, as it's pretty much overstuffed. Now all I need to do is take a Saturday and organize everything. I'm at a point that I can pretty much fix any automotive or motorcycle related repair. :) It's pretty nice.

I feel a little bad about not posting much over the last month, but I haven't been really motivated due to an injury. I think it may have happened in November, but in late January, an MRI showed that I had a herniated disk in my back. After six weeks of physical therapy, my back is much better, but I'm still stretching out my hamstrings which are causing some cramping in my right calf. Not a lot of fun when it hurts to drive. I did find out that I can ride my motorcycle more comfortable than driving the Little Red Racecar, and the weather has been really nice, so there are a couple of nice reasons to put some miles on my 900RR.