I'm Home!!

Here I am, safe and sound at home with my laptop plugged in and the battery recharging. Earlier I was sitting outside on a table at one of the Tim Horton's coffee house/restaurants we have in our city. I drank tea while doing some blogging.  When my battery got too low, I had to shut down the laptop and head home on my trike. It sure has gotten a LOT cooler at night, just in the last 2 days or so. I am so grateful I took my hoodie along today as it really was a very cool ride home along the lake. It was a bit cool at Tim Horton's but not uncomfortable at all, though when riding you must add the wind chill factor in and it is much cooler than when just sitting.  I had to stop along the way to take off my helmet and put up the hood of the hoodie, then put the helmet back on. I will be zipping the longer ear/neck liner in for the evenings now, having it with me on the trike for whenever I need it. When I got home I checked the thermometer in my carport and it's just under 14 degrees Celsius and it is cooler closer to the lake I ride past.

Anyway, now I'm home in the warmth and comfort of my own home and back on the internet.  Since I didn't sleep much or well last night, I will not be on the computer long at all.  I think I will take a few minutes to look at some cheap T shirts online, then will go crawl into bed with my wonderful cat and see if I can have a better night than the last one.

Happy Trike Update!!

I just got a phone call from my new mechanic. He said that the linkage as it is on my trike is not working and never going to work, so he has to rip it all off and start from scratch. He will totally redesign it for me and make my brakes work properly.  He knows I want to ride it to the Show & Shine this weekend, so he said if he doesn't get it done today during business hours, he will stay late to do it for me!! AND, unlike the previous guys who did it all wrong, he's not charging me an arm and a leg for doing it!! Thank God I finally got it to the right place!! I will be telling the world about how bad the other guys are.... and how great Doug is!!! Honest, good at his work, and reasonably priced too!!! I have been most unhappy with past so called mechanics and their shoddy work.... I am not happy to be paying yet another person to do the work.... yet I AM happy that my trike will finally be working right!!

Wise Cherokee Proverb

Which wolf do you choose to feed??
I choose to feed the good wolf!!

My Home Nightmare

I keep wanting to get my house cleaned up, and am just so busy I never quite get it done.  Today, for example, I was not home all day.  Phil picked me up in the morning and we went to where my trike is being worked on, thinking I'd get to drive it home today, but I didn't so spent the day with Phil, then caught a ride home with my neighbor, Denise, to save Phil the drive out.  He'll likely have to come get me tomorrow again as the trike should be done then. I could/should have gotten stuff done then, like taking care of plants and my garden, but I laid down for a nap.  Now it's time for me to head to town to my spiritual evening at the Ashram.  I think I am going to have to get a bunch of storage bins and just put as much in them as possible and hide them so this place looks good.  Phil's sister, Marilyn, will be out in about 3 weeks and will likely want to come out here to visit me.  YIKES, running out of time!!

More Trike "Stuff"

In an earlier post, I told about the problems I've been having getting quality help to fix the back brakes on my trike.  I wondered if 3rd time was the charm as I took it to yet another guy that said he could fix it for me. Well, it wasn't!!  I paid the guy, Dean, $450 just to drive away and find that my back brakes don't work any better than they did before I took it to Dean.

Phil and I decided that the only other thing it could be was the brake shoes.  We had been told by Rod and by Dean that the shoes were okay, but at this point they were the only other thing it could be since we had gotten Dunbar Automotive to machine the drums ($28), I paid Ray last year to change the wheel cylinders, Dean had done this work to the linkage.  So we ordered in shoes, cost me nearly $60, Phil put them in and still no back brakes.

So finally we took the trike to Myron's Automotive Shop and it turns out my neighbor, Doug, is working there.  Doug seems very knowledgeable so this is a good thing.  He checked out several things and finally they decided that the brake drums are too big, they have been machined too many times and Dunbar should not have machined them for me, it was illegal for them to do so as they were past the point of that being right to do.  So they ordered in a new set of brake drums for me and put them in this morning.  The trike stops better than it did, but still it is not stopping like it should!!! This is really crazy!! Doug is going to change the linkage that I paid Ray to do, Dean to redo, and now will be paying Doug to do the 3rd time!!

I don't know what it will cost this time, but I am so tired of grabbing my own ankles while people lie to me and make money off me but don't give me quality work. I sure hope I have good, working brakes and am out on the road riding by tomorrow!!

Gene called yesterday and said the part I ordered is in, it's a bearing for my steering stem.  I have to go get it and pay for it ($45 was quoted) and Phil will put it in for me.  It's a big job, pulling the front end apart, but needs to be done.

Paint Job on Trike

About a month ago, Phil painted my trike for me.  He did a beautiful job of painting it Lazer Blue Candy over Cosmic Dust.  This is a 3 step process where, after it is all prepped and painted with primer, you paint it with the base coat, in the case the Cosmic Dust (silver), then the Candy Color (Lazer Blue), and finally the Clear Coat.  I think Phil put 3 or 4 coats of Lazer Blue and likely 3 of Clear Coat.  It looks fabulous!!  Unfortunately, the other day I backed the trike out of the carport and got a bit too close to the wheel barrow sitting where it shouldn't be... and I scraped the right fender, putting a huge scrape on it!!  I wanted to cry!! Then I had to go up to Phil's and tell him what I'd done.... not easy!!  One thing he had warned me about was that Candy paint can not be repaired it it gets scratched, unlike the regular base coat, clear coat paint jobs.  Phil's friend Charlie came up for  short visit at Phil's and of course Phil showed him what I'd done.  The next day, Phil told me he had a way to fix it and that Charlie agreed it would be a good fix.  What he did was sand the area and tape it off, then spray painted it with the same flat black paint as the box is painted with.  He did the same for the left fender too.  Not only does it cover up the scraped, but it also looks really fabulous!!! It even looks better than the straight blue fenders did, kind of like 'detailing' or 'pin striping'.  We have decided to do the same thing on the gas tank too.  It will look great!!

 Note to self: Move the wheel barrow before bringing the trike home again!!

Peace Quote

Riding Accessories

Part of riding a motorcycle or a trike is having the proper accessories in order to be safe. I have a good leather jacket as well as a cloth 'High Visibility' motorcycle jacket, a pair of leather chaps, a DOT approved helmet.  What I want to get is a good pair of riding boots. Oh, I have horse riding boots and have been wearing them, but they are starting to fall apart now so I definitely need a good pair of motorcycle boots. This evening I was looking at some 'driving gloves' at tillman gloves and found some of them very interesting, though I don't actually need new gloves.... and did 'need' ever have a lot to do with a woman getting things she likes? haha.  I guess I better wait and pay for my new brake shoes before I spend any more money on trike related things, but I can still keep these in mind for next week.

Trike Maintenance

I haven't been riding the trike much this year, due to a lot of rain as well as problems with my back brake system.  I have had it to a few different people and have put about $500 or more into it and still can't say I have back brakes!!  Today I did drive it in to town as I needed to take it to a guy who does motorcycle work.  I got Gene to change the left fork seal for me as it was leaking oil fairly badly.  He fixed that and aired up the forks.  He also said I need a new steering spindle bearing... or something like that.  I told him to order one in for me. I am getting so tired of spending money on my trike and not riding it, but one has to do what one has to do to be safe.  It was nice to be riding though I would feel so much better if I knew I could stop when need be.

Salvation Army Food Bank

Every week I go to the Salvation Army Food Bank and give of my time. I really love going there and helping out, spending quality time with the dear friends I have made that also work there. I actually find it hard to call it 'work' as so often, even though we do accomplish a lot, it feels more like 'play' since we make working together fun. Some people I know think I'm strange for working for free, and some people have ignorantly said "I don't work for free you know"..... I have come to see it that I am blessed because I work for free so others can eat!! and what we give out the Universe gives back to us.

The Salvation Army has not only their church and Food Bank here, but also 2 Thrift Stores, so they take donations of nearly everything... well, not car donations, but nearly everything else: Food, clothing, bedding, dishes, furniture, jewelry, etc etc etc. They also own/operate a coffee house called the Talking Donkey. All moneys raised go to helping people in our community!! How cool is that!!

Is 3rd time the charm??

I phoned Rod again today, he's the guy who was supposed to be fixing the back brake system on my trike and in 9 days had done nothing more than take off 1 brake drum. When I talked to him today he started making excuses and I said "Rod, it's been 9 days!"
He said, "I can put that back wheel together and you can come get it."
To which I replied, "Good.  I'll be over in a bit."
I phoned Phil. We agreed I'd drive to his place, he'd drive me to Rod's and we'd take my trike back to Phil's until I can find someone else to do the work. Once the trike was safely moved, I phoned Dean. Yesterday I visited Wilma (Butch's "ol' lady") and she gave me a phone number for Brian who has done work for Butch and for Newfy on their bikes.  I called him and he can't do it but gave me Dean's name & number.  When I talked to Dean on the phone I remembered Don had once given me his name & number for some reason I don't now remember.  Anyway, so Dean came over to Phil's and had a look at my trike.  He said he can do the job and he sounds very knowledgeable.  He gave me his address and directions to his place.
Phil had an errand to run before he could go with me to Dean's so I rode down to Polson Park to meet with friends who were down there drumming.  I drummed with them until Phil got there, then hopped on my trike and rode to Dean's.  He lives about 10-15 minutes out of town, so I got a great ride!! It rained a little bit, but I loved every second of it anyway. Now the trike is in Dean's shop and again I am waiting. 

Is 3rd time the charm?? I hope so!! This is the 3rd place I've taken it to this spring to get the back brake system fixed!!! There were others before this. It's time for someone to do the job right!!

I am grateful to have such an awesome trike!!!
I am grateful for all the work Phil has done on my trike this spring!!
I am grateful to have such a good friend as Phil in my life!! He is a true blessing!!
I am grateful my trike will finally be fixed and I will be riding much safer this year than I have the last 2 summers.

My new computer

A few weeks ago I had serious problems with my laptop and decided to go out and buy a new one. I looked around the local area for deals on laptops, not wanting to take the time for one to be shipped if I ordered it off the internet.  I found one I like and it was even in the right price bracket for my budget, so I bought it.  It seems like a good enough computer, though I find I have a lot of problems with the keyboard and don't seem to be getting used to it very well.  I am finding that sometimes the letters I type don't actually appear so I have to go back and type in the ones missed... and sometimes I get 2 or 3 when I just wanted one!  I am not totally pleased with this, needless to say.... yet it still is a fairly good computer other than the keyboard. For the money I paid it could be a lot worse too.  Over all, I am grateful to have this new computer, and that the old one that seemed to be dying is still holding in there and I am able to use it for some things yet.

Yesterday I went to see the guy who's supposedly doing the back brake system on my trike. He was not home but I went into the tent where he has my trike. NOTHING has been done to it in the 8 days it's been there.... and there is dirt/dust and SPIDER WEBS all over my trike!!! I am most unhappy!!!!!!!!!! I phoned him several times today and left a message on the machine. I will continue tomorrow. When I get a hold of him I will give him 2 days to complete the job and if he can't do it in that time I will just go get it and take it elsewhere.

Life Changes

I have always been one to do a lot of crafts. In my teens I taught my self how to crochet and made many nice doilies, most I gave away as gifts though some I did keep for myself. As I sit here I look across the room at the end table by the TV and I see the top of it completely covered by one of those doilies that I made and kept. I remember when I taught myself how to macrame.  The biggest hanger I made was a hanging table with a plant hanger in the top of it.  I was living with a guy at the time and just as I finished the hanger we broke up and I moved out, foolishly leaving the hanger behind for him because he had paid for the materials and I didn't want anyone to be able to say I took what wasn't mine, yet with all the hours of work I put into making it I now see that he got to keep what wasn't his. Hmmm, I wonder if he still has it all these years later, lol.  Over the years I taught myself many different crafts, including Native style bead work: using the tiny little seed beads, making necklaces, earrings, hat bands, bracelets, hair clips.... punch embroidery: I made lots of things, including a big eagle for Doug's jacket (the man I was with at that time), cowboy boots with musical instruments leaning against them and the hat on top for Doug's vest, an eagle head for the back of one of my dresses and many other things, including a peacock which I sold for $200. I did ceramics and still have some of the things I made. I did regular embroidery for a long time too.  I know there were many other crafts that I can't seem to think of just know, then I got into spinning & weaving. Take raw sheep fleeces and turn them into useable wool, then weave with some of it. Some of the things I wove include scarves (I gave some away and kept some), 3 table runners (1 to sister Marcy, 1 to Mom, 1 to brother Terry for his wedding gift. Planned to make one for me but never got it done).  I still have lots of skeins of wool around and loads of threads for weaving... and for years now my spinning wheel and loom have been sitting here collecting dust. I gave 1 of my spinning wheels to niece Rebecca for Christmas this year.  So, after a life time of crafts what am I doing now? Well, not much.  The only thing I've done in a very long time is I recently made some very simple book marks using stretch thread and large hole beads.  A friend gave me one she had made, it is so handy that I made several more for myself.  It's funny how we change over the years, how our interests change. I wonder if I will ever be interested in crafts again and if so which ones.  Will I use the loom again or should I dust it off and sell it, along with the warping board and all the other bits and pieces involved in weaving.

Sneak Peak Preview

 I am currently giving my trike a make-over.  Well, mostly my fried Fly'n Phil is giving my trike  make-over and I go up there nearly every day to help with the work.  Phil is really gifted at this kind of thing. 

 This is my trike last fall, September 2011, sitting in my yard. 

 This photo is of one side of the box.  The wood is not all  back in the frame yet, not until the fenders are on, but for now you can see the wood is now painted and the horse shoes have been changed from black to silver/chrome paint.  You can also see the bungee cord. There is one on each side of the inner box to hold the tailgate closed.  Since this photo was taken, the plywood floor of the box has also been painted black.

On the back, we got rid of the old signal and tail/brake lights that were about 3/4 of the way up the sides, and went with new 'all in one' lights on the bumper. Remember, the fenders still have to be put on along with their brackets.

Last year, I had a bad oil leak.  The Cover Gasket was leaking badly so with it being so close to the end of the riding season, I just kept adding oil, knowing the gasket would have to be changed before I put the trike on the road this year. Phil cleaned the engine which was covered in oil, then he took the Cover off, sanded it and painted it with Gloss Black Engine paint.  After the paint was dry, he sanded the high spots to remove the paint and let the aluminum show through. The hex bolts had all rusted and Phil went to clean them up so he could paint them too, and he discovered they just needed a good sanding/polishing to make them shiny like chrome.

I bought new fenders and Phil fixed up the old box as well as possible (I plan to replace the box too, hopefully by next year) and made brackets to hold the fenders on to the box (they will be behind the fenders, against the wood, so won't be seen but still he made them look nice). He then made brackets that go on the front and back of the fenders to make them more solid (these will be seen and they look very good). 

The gas tank had a lot of dents in it, I think the guy that used to own it must have dropped the bike a lot.  I took the "Yamaha " off both sides of the tank and sanded all the paint off of it as there were a lot of flaws in that paint job. Phil put Bondo on the tank, many coats, to fill in the dents and where "Yamaha" used to be, making the tank look like those things never existed.  I took the side covers off, removed "Maxim 650" from them and sanded them enough to take the shine off, so that the paint would stick to them.

The paint I chose for the gas tank, 2 side covers and 2 fenders is called Lazer Blue Candy, and for the base coat I chose Cosmic Dust.  Regular paint jobs have base coat and clear coats.  Being a Candy paint job, this one has base coat (Cosmic Dust) then the color (Lazer Blue - we decided on 2 coats), then the clear coats.

 Here are the side covers, all painted and baking in the sun.

 And here are the brackets that will go on the front and back of the fenders to give them strength.  We left them Cosmic Dust so they will be a contrast to the Lazer Blue of the fenders.

I can hardly wait until the work is all done and the trike is back on the road!! Over the next few days the painted parts must 'cure' then on the weekend they will be wet sanded and polished.  After that they all need to be attached to the trike. In the meantime, the new tail/signal/brake lights have to be wired to the trike which could be a challenge as neither of us know much about wiring.  However, I have faith that we will figure it all out.  I also have new Fork Seals waiting to be put on as they old ones are.... well, old!! and one is leaking.

When the make-over is done and the trike is all back together, I will take more photos and post some here for you to see.

Pocket Gofers

Up where my friend Phil lives, the same area where I used to ride horses all the time, there are a lot of Marmots, and in some spots there are Pocket Gofers. These photos I took from my truck, sitting in Phil's driveway.  The alfalfa fields are so full of these little rodents it's incredible.  Sadly, nature does take it's tole, and one of Phil's cats, Bear Bear, sometimes brings home a Gofer for his dinner.

Trike Near Ready to Paint

With so much happening on my trike I don't have much time for doing some of the other things in my life just now.  Part of my agreement with Phil is that I go up there and work on my trike along with him. He has done so much incredible work on it so far, much of it early in the morning before I get up there... and we have done much together too. He may have fixed my back brakes the first day it was at his place and I will know that for sure when I get to ride it, but it does appear that they are much better than they were. He has also fixed up the old box which I had hoped to replace this year and now will be waiting until later to do so, he has built brackets for holding the fenders on, etc etc.  Today I took it all apart so it is ready for him to paint as soon as we get decent weather. His shop is not heated, so he wants it to be warm and dry so the paint will dry better.

With my trike in mind, I have been looking at some rain gear and some other new clothes that could come in very handy this summer. I like what I saw at carhartt outlet when I visited their site. I think some new jeans and shirts would be good. I also need a new pair of riding boots.

Hand Surgery

Two weeks ago today I had surgery on my left hand and my hand is doing well. I had a lump in my palm that I was told was a I still have a big lump in my palm where the surgery was and that area is all numb, but maybe as it heals some more.... The surgeon said it would take a month to heal and I think I have a build-up of scar tissue happening.  I will know more when I see the surgeon again on May 29th..

My 2 Cents Worth!!

Every time I sign in to one of my blogs now, Google wants me to add my mobile phone number so that if I forget my password or can't log in to my blogs for some reason, they can contact me by sending a text message to my phone.  I refuse to do that!! I will not give my cell phone number here or anywhere on the web!! Once upon a time I made the mistake of giving my cell number on the internet and they sent me many text messages and there was a $5 charge for each one, so by the time I got my bill and found out about these charges, I owed a scary big bill!!!!!!! I do not know if Google charges for the text messages they send, or if Telus would attach a charge to those messages, but I will not take the chance.  Google can send the information needed to my email accounts that they have always used in the past.  Not every person that has a blog on Blogger has a mobile phone and if I did not have one then the information could only be emailed to me.... and now the information can only be mailed to me.  I just wish they'd quit asking as it's a PITA each time I sign in.

There.... my 2 cents worth!!

One Door Closed....

I had to change plans for the "Trike Make-over". Some so called friends were to build a new metal box for my trike, put in a set of springs on the back, and change a gasket on the motor as well as the fork seals. Well, they got rather carried away with the planning and didn't seem to hear anything I said so at first I thought I'd just go along with it as it seemed to all be okay.  Then I discovered that changing to a solo seat, though something I would love to do, just is not in my budget at this time and much of the conversion they planned was based on going to the solo seat. Then I spent time one day watching Ray around the trike, listening to what he was mumbling to himself... and I realized that he didn't have a clue what he was doing. He was going to change the frame of my motorcycle and the frame of the trike part.... and he didn't have a clue what he was doing!! He was risking my life as well as probably about to destroy my trike!! So, I said just change the box and add the springs, forget about doing all the rest of it.  Okay, this is all a short version of a long and nasty story so I will skip most of what was said on the club forum just telling you that he started accusing me of 'screwing' him out of money he'd spent on parts and supplies for the conversion.... yet he had not told me about buying these parts and supplies. I asked him to explain and "stuff" went back and forth there for a bit.  I decided to go talk to him in person.  My trike was in pieces in his shop... I had done 30+ hours of work in his shop, doing inventory for his small engine repair business for FREE in exchange for the work he would be doing on my trike.... we had been friends for a year.... so I thought I could go talk to him like adults.  At first he wouldn't look at me or speak to me, then when I didn't leave, I stayed and asked "Ray, can we talk about this now?" he got very rude and was actually screaming at me like a psycho. He screamed that he was starting to get upset and I should leave.  As I turned to go he added that I better get my friends over to get my trike out of his shop.  I assured him that I would have it out of there as soon as possible!  He said more nasty stuff as I was leaving and I must admit that I also said some nasty things, the guy even stood there and said things that were so ridiculous, bold faced lies right to my face, knowing that I knew they were lies!!! I couldn't believe it!! The guy was mentally melting down right in front of me!! Interestingly, I usually get scared when anyone, especially men, get mad around me and especially if they are mad specifically at me.  This time I didn't realize it until later, but I was not in the least bit afraid.  Angry, yes... disgusted, yes.... but not afraid!!

The next day I went back there with friends. Four male friends to be exact!! Do you think Ray yelled at me with my friends there? Do you think he said anything rude to me then? Actually, he didn't even have the balls to come outside!! His truck and motorcycle were there and when we first got there his door was open, yet we saw not hide nor hair of him... he hid inside the whole time!! I guess there is a big difference between yelling at a lone woman and facing her with 4 guys backing her. It felt SO GOOD to have my trike out of there and to know that I will never again have to talk to that psycho again!!! It was like loosing about 250 pounds of ugly fat!!!!!! 

When one door closes, another one opens.... and it is pretty much always a better one!!

I took my trike to Phil's place and in 1 day he had done more to my trike than Ray had done in the 2 weeks or so that it had been at his place. More on this later!!