April 2006 Archives
And it's gone. My 2004 Aprilia RSV 1000R Mille is now proudly owned by another gentleman. It really was just too fine a machine to be sitting in a garage collecting dust - which is exactly what was going on.
I am just shocked at how many responses I got to it. I posted it on Craigslist Saturday nite about 9:15p. I had the first email inquiry at 9:33p! I think one more later that nite, and 3-4 more the next day, and 4 more since then. It sold yesterday, tho - we did the final exchange this evening.
It was a bit sketchy today, tho - I went to start the bike this morning (was going to ride it into work) - it wouldn't start!! I surmised that the battery was just dead enough not to be able to turn over the engine. First time I've had an EFI bike engine, so it was a little different from my carb'd Ninja - but roughly the same sympton. What made this REALLY odd was that I started it just fine on Saturday, when I pulled it out of the garage to take pictures of it. I then pulled it out again on Sunday afternoon for a guy to see it (the first guy who emailed me). Ran fine. In fact, started it up for the guy while he was here. Turned it off, we chatted some more, then he left. I couldn't start it back up suddenly. So I figured maybe I flooded it. Pushed it back down into the garage, didn't give it another thought - well, not consciously, but it did kinda bug me. And sure enough, this morning, it wouldn't start. Given that I was supposed to give the guy his bike today, I was a little concerned; I had talked about how the bike was in such great condition!
Over lunch, Sqweak and I came back to the house - we futzed with it for a few mins, and as we were, I noticed the headlight was getting dimmer and dimmer and dimmer - finally after maybe 10 mins, the console lights went out. It was for sure the battery! Oh, I should mention that on the way over, we went to Pro-Italia (local bike shop) to get a battery (assuming that was the problem in the first place) - but they didn't have any of the type needed for the bike. ARGH! So anyway, came back, did this - got online, found a local Yamaha place that had 'em. Ran by Pep Boys, got a new set of jumper cables (I musta lost the last pair I had in the Saab accident last year) (Sqweak was talking about just jumping the battery and leaving it at that - but that didn't sit well with my conscious - but I needed cables anyway). Got the battery, came back, installed it (tho we had to let it sit for 30 mins after we aded the acid, so we hit MickyD's for lunch), tried it out - worked great now.
So... I was a little worried today. I told the guy who bought it about the battery, too (I'm honest that way) and he seemed really appreciative that I bought a new battery (I think he was expecting me to say I just jumped it and he should look at a new battery in a few months). Anyway, it all worked out well. Tho I am sad that it's gone - but logically it was the right thing to do. I need to focus on logical decisions, not emotional ones.
Tonight I sit at home alone - Jason's out at a concert over in Hollywood, so the house is MINE! HAHAHA. So I'll sit here with a beer and watch TiVo til I grow too tired to keep my eyelids open. I'm really even too tired to play WoW tonight.
Well, after a lot of thinking over the last month, I think I've decided to sell my motorcycle. It's sitting in the garage, not doing anything, and I'm paying $200/mo in insurance on it (until recently, $300/mo). You can't even use the "saving gas" argument anymore - I'd have to save more than I'm paying in add'l insurance - and I'm not.
Simple math
- if I use my bike to commute to/from work, I'd spend about $12/wk in gas. Say $50/mo.
- if I use my truck to commute, I spend about $60/2 wks. Roughly $120/mo.
But then I'm paying $200/mo in add'l insurance cuz of the bike.
So AT BEST I'm spending another $130/mo just to ride the bike. And that's if I used it every single day, which I don't, nor do I care to do.
So...this weekend I'll clean it up, take pix, and put it up on craigslist and see if I get any bites. I figure $8K is reasonable. If anyone wants it, lemme know, I'll make ya a deal :)
Not quite 2 months ago (about the end of Feb I think) Rogue went in for tests on a problem similar to Storm's. Eventually she, too, was diagnosed with cancer. It was not nearly as aggressive as Storm's, so she was okay taking pain meds and keeping her happy.
Got the note last night that she was going downhill fast. She was taken into the vet the morning of 4/9/06 @ 10am. Thankfully, it was a much nicer vet. My folks found a new vet, tho in Vegas. While I had the opportunity to take her in myself, as I did with Storm, the length of that trip would have absolutely totally killed me. It's a 1.5 hr drive to get from Pahrump into Vegas. I would not have been able to stand to do it. My mom's doing it. They let me know when they thought it was the right time, I trust their judgement - I'm not there everyday to see Rogue, so I cannot properly judge how happy she is, or how much in pain. So finally, today (4/8) I got the note. At least this vet will let my mom be there when they give her the injection.
I'm writing this the evening before-hand. I don't know how I'm going to sleep. I've been absolutely torn up about whether I should go up & see her one last time, or if I should save myself the pain and let her memories remain happy and good ones. I can't even see to type right now; I can't imagine how I would drive.
A spring of great loss. I will sorely miss my dear danes, both of them. They have been with me through so much of my life, the highs and lows, and were always there for me to love me.
I'm bored with technology. There is nothing really new - nothing innovative. It's just regurgitation of the same old stuff. Apple doesn't really do anything more, it's just the Job-ites who slather after his every word who thinks that putting Intel into Apple boxen is the biggest thing since the Koran. Even networking is boring. I could do fibre in the home - but for what purpose? I've put up & torn down more servers than I can think of.
What now?
