Quick Update...

In answer to the question, "Wes, how did you spend your weekend?" It was mostly in the parking lot of John I. Leonard High School. What I was doing there was taking a class on safe motorcycle riding. Jim Stafford and his father joined me in the adventure. A couple years ago now, I got this itch to learn how to ride a motorcycle with the interest in acquiring one at some point. After chatting with John Paxman, who is an avid rider, he suggested that I take a course like this. Small investment of time and money and if it turns out it wasn't right for me, then I am that much more knowledgeable. If I enjoyed it, then I would be well-schooled in how to do it in the safest way possible.

We all passed - everyone in our class. That means we can go directly to the Division of Drivers Licenses and do not need to pass a State test. As classes like this go, it was smaller than most, but due to that we were able to get a good dose of personal attention. We all racked up about 10 hours on bikes and performed numerous skills - including the dreaded figure eight in a "box". Not sure when I will be getting a bike, but am now officially on the hunt and will let you know when I find one.

By the way, the bikes that we were using were Susuki 250s. If you know anything about my stature, it wasn't the most comfortable choice (but there was no choice available). Right now, there are muscles I didn't know I had - pretty sore from being glued to the seat, but should recover nicely. It really was a great time and nice to learn something that you have wanted to do for a while.

One upsetting note, while we were waiting for our last run as part of our final evaluation, we heard this CRASH! Right behind us, on 10th Avenue, we saw an SUV flip over right before the Haverhill intersection - landing on its side. Scary stuff and it made us all realize the importance of safety and some of the more important items taught in the course - like never leaving the bike in neutral at an intersection. Always leave it in first so that you have a way to escape if anything like that happens.

The reason for all this rambling is that my usual over-the-weekend "posting time" on this blog has been limited due to the class. I also wasn't able to prepare for my "Truth Matters" show. Next week, I will be unavailable as well, so we will dig back into the show on September 9th. People have recently provided a bunch of information on the beach issue that dates from the 2002 referendum. We'll see what's in there and I will post any useful information over the coming weeks.

So, my apologies for any vacuum created here through a temporary lack of posting. I appreciate your visits to this site and hope that your carry away something meaningful after your visits.

See you later!