Annabelle is Running!!

Annabelle is back up and running again! It was just a loose nut (not unlike the owner). I'm happy to announce that we will have a running bike to ride over to bike week events this year! Wooo-hooo!!!!!!!! BB and LadyR: You may now comment on Big D's blog post regarding the San Diego trip. He says he spent 11 hours writing it, and if he doesn't see a comment from both of you ladies in the next day or so, he is deleting the post! I think he's making a stand for biker's/writer's/men's rights, or some shit like that...lol!

Generation Y

The Silent Generation... people born between 1925 and 1945. The Baby Boomers... people born between 1946 and 1964. Generation X... people born between 1965 and 1982. Generation Y... people born between 1983 and 1997. Why do we call the last group of people "Generation Y?" I had no idea until I saw this cartoon explanation!

A picture is worth a thousand words.

Big D's Theme Song

So, you'll forgive me for being frank. Well, I'm not really Frank...I'm just a little buzzed tonight. Even though Big D was NOT invited to my little drunk party...he showed up anyway! WTF? Bike has not been touched, and there he sat at my kitchen table like he owned it or something! Anyway, here is Big D's theme song...hope you all enjoy it! :) He's the man!

Arizona Bike Week

Before I begin this post, I want to thank everyone for their prayers and kind words and thoughts. Mom's surgery did not go as well as we first thought. She is expected to go home today, though, and she's very happy to be going home, anyway. Arizona Bike Week is a huge event. This year, it is March 27 - April 5. We have only attended bike week one year in the 9 years we've been out here. This is due to the fact that our bike has only been up and running during one bike week in te 9 years we've been out here. There's always some damn issue that prevents us from partaking in bike week activities. This year, I was looking forward to bike week because our bike has a brand new motor, and things are looking up! Woo-hoo! Right? Well, not so much. Annabelle started acting up on Big D's trip home from San Diego on Monday. She started making a racket, she's pissing out oil, and she needs a new peg. Today is Thursday, and Big D has not even looked at her yet! Hello?! WTF?! Can I get a mechanic in here, please?! Oh, that's right...I'm married to one!!! Big D has been so busy blogging about his trip that he has not been out to the garage yet. This is a problem. We volunteered to man the BACA booth next Saturday, 4/4. And before that, I'd like to take a cruise over to partake in some festivities. I will not go to bike week festivities in the dented ghetto Buick! Big D has a few folks waiting on him for some mechanical work, but they will have to wait. The AZhole Garage is temporarily closed until Annabelle is up and running. This even takes precedence over getting our jacuzzi going...which is very high on Big D's 'honey-do' list. Hopefully, my dear hubby will get the hint, get off the damned computer, get into the garage and get moving! :) There is no time to waste! And since it's been a tough couple of weeks, I am having people over Friday night so we can get our drunk on. Big D will not be a part of these festivities, as he will be busy in the garage. I will have pictures to post over the weekend, I'm sure. I hope you all have a lovely day. :)

Birthday Shout-Out!

Today is my daughter Vicki's 11th birthday! It is also my sister Christine's birthday! With everything going on today, I didn't want to forget a big birthday shout-out to the two soul-sisters in the family! I love you both very much. Have a wonderful day!

Prayers are Welcome - UPDATED

Those of you who know me know that 1. I am not big on organized religion, and 2. I am not a non-believer. That being said, I am not averse to praying when needed. So, I am not being a hypocrite when I say that prayers are welcome. Mom is having her heart surgery this morning, and I'm a bit worked-up about it. I'll be waiting to hear from my sisters on her condition after surgery while I'm at work today. It helps knowing she's at one of the best cardiac units in the world, at one of the best hospitals in Boston. Some of you know that she had made some decisions late last week that I respected, even if I didn't like them. When she spoke to her cardiologist yesterday, she changed her mind. I'm glad she did. I will keep you posted. Thank you for the prayers. Updated 10:15 p.m. March 24, 2009: Thanks to EVERYONE for your kind words, prayers and thoughts. Mom's surgery went well today, but we are still waiting a few days before we declare it a victory. For now, she's doing ok, but please keep the prayers coming. I will keep you all updated on her condition.

A Funny Conversation at a Difficult Time

OK, I know this isn't a Yuma post, and I apologize for that. I do have more to tell, but I have lots of stuff going on right now, and just can't focus on anything. I will try to get back to telling my Yuma story soon. My Mom has been in the hospital over the last week. I call her everyday to check in on her, and she sounds good, but then I talk to my sister and find out it's an act. I expect this; I'm the youngest in the family, and I'm 3,000 miles away, so she doesn't want me to worry. (Annoying!) Yesterday, I tried calling Mom in the morning around the same time I always do, and there was no answer. I tried an hour later, and got the same result. At lunchtime, still no answer. I tried again at about 2:30 and when I still got no answer I called my sister. She said she was worried, too, so she called the nurse's station on Mom's floor. She had been in testing all day. I felt much better after that. At about 3:30, I tried Mom's room again and was finally able to talk to her. I won't go into all the details, but there was a kind of funny part of our conversation: Mom: I retired today. Me: Over the phone? After 35 years?? Mom: (laughing) Yes! I had to let them know... Me: You'd think after 35 years, a face-to-face would be more appropriate. Mom: (laughing more) I never thought about that. How do you retire after 35 years over the phone??? It just tickled my funny bone, which was good, because the rest of our conversation did not. Mom has heart disease and is currently in congestive heart failure. We're hoping she is strong enough to have surgery next week to replace her defibrillator. It was supposed to be today, but they cancelled it due to her strength level, and other areas of concern. So, I'm hoping for the best for now. I may need to take a trip back east to see her soon, we'll see. I'll keep you all posted.

Birthday Shout-Out!

A very happy 40th birthday to one of our best, most loyal friends...Kickstand!

We love you, Kickstand, even if you are over the hill, now! :)

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone! May the luck of the Irish be with us all today and every day!

Big D: Unplugged

I wish I could say our ride to Yuma was uneventful. But I can't say that at all. Big D finished his motor at about 1:30 p.m. on Friday, and we left at about 3:00. (Got on the freeway at 3:10, so it was the 3:10 to Yuma). The bike ran GREAT! We rode to Yuma with Joker on his rented '09 Heritage, and Kickstand and Ice on their '08 Fatboy. We stopped in Gila Bend for fuel and Joker said he didn't need any, so we took off again. As we got near the exit for Dateland, the little blue sign indicated the next service station was 30 miles after Dateland. Joker rode up next to us pointing to his tank, so we stopped in Dateland. Joker didn't want to be referred to as the Gas-hole Masshole for running out of gas! :) While Joker fueled up, Big D and I took a few pics with Kickstand and Ice. Then we were ready to get back on the road. We mounted up, and Big D pushed his start button, and we heard, "click click click click click..." The battery was dead. WTF?! So luckily the tiny little service station we were at was also a tiny little general store. We bought a set of jumper cables for $18 and used the rented bike to jump the Sporty. (This was after Kickstand tried to push start Big D about 12 times.) Big D said, "I knew I should have replaced the regulator while I had everything torn apart. I'll go to HD when we get to Yuma and buy one." Now once the Sporty started, I knew Big D was going to get back on the freeway and ride the last 100 miles to Yuma like a bat out of hell, so I jumped on and hunkered down. I think we averaged 95 mph the rest of the way to Yuma. Once we got there, we lost our lights, so it was only a matter of time before the battery died again. I should mention that it was about 7:00 p.m. now, and getting dark. And we had our dark glasses on so it looked like midnight. We stopped at a Del Taco parking lot and put the cables back on the Sporty to get her going again. At this point Big D was getting a bit ornery. He told me to go inside to find out if anyone knew how to get to our hotel. I came back out and he was right behind me calling my name, but I didn't hear him because we just rode at 95 mph into a headwind for about a 100 miles. So he started yelling at me. Then I started yelling at him, because I didn't know why he was yelling at me. Luckily, Ice had a phone with some GPS action, so we got directions to the hotel, and it was only about 7 miles away. While we're waiting for the Sporty to get charged up, Big D gets this strange look on his face and laid down to do something underneath the bike. He got up and asked Joker to take the cables off the bike. He pushed the start button and she fired up immediately. "I forgot to plug in the regulator." was all he said. And that was all he needed to say. We all laughed our asses off and called him "Regulator" for the whole weekend! Once we got to the hotel, we checked in, unpacked the bikes, and hit Penny's Diner out front to get some grub. Guy, who is the Arizona BACA State President, and his wife Bambi, ate with us at the diner and then we went to the Hideout at Guy & Bambi's house and partied like rock stars until 3:30 Saturday morning. ;) I would just like to say that Joker was an awesome guest, rode it like he stole it all weekend, and we would LOVE to have him come back some time. We had a kick-ass time! Stay tuned....there are many more stories from Joker's visit to Arizona and our weekend in Yuma.

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Birthday Shout-Out!

Happy birthday to the best Mom in the entire world! I love you, Mom! I hope you have a wonderful day!

Man On Fire

Yesterday we received a rather large check from the Fed-Ex man...wasn't that nice of him? ;)

After running to the bank, we had to pick up Big D's crank, pistons, etc., etc., etc.... After dropping over $1K on these parts and other necessities, we had to go to Walmart because naturally, on the day that everyone is calling to see if Big D got his parts, our phone stopped working!

While at Wally's getting a new phone, we had to fill 2 prescriptions for Vicki (ear infection) and we decided to eat some McDonald's inside Wally's while waiting for the pharmacy to finish up her prescriptions. (Bad idea...I'm starting to hate McD's)

Let me back the story up a little bit. Big D had to use my car yesterday to take Vicki to the doctor. So it was a mad dash in the a.m. to get me to the bus terminal so I could get to work. But I didn't miss the bus! (Yay!)

Vicki's appointment was at 4:20, and my bus came in at 5:30. Mr. Fed-Ex guy came at precisely 3:00. I got off the bus, jumped in the car and Mr. Big D drove like a jackhole in a stolen Ferrari to get me to the bank by 6:00. No issues, we got there safely. Then we had to make a mad dash all the way over to Cave Creek Road to get to RamJets to pick up his parts. We made it with plenty of time to spare, thanks to Mario Andretti. My poor Buick will never be quite the same.

Before going to Wally's we stopped at home to drop off the parts. While there we checked to see if we missed any calls. We had like 12 missed calls. Mostly from people here wanting to know if Big D got his parts yet, and if we were going to Yuma Friday. There was one call from Mr. Joker. It was now 7:00 in AZ, 9:00 in MA. I called Joker back and explained that we had been running around like maniacs, but assured him that I would pick him up at the airport as scheduled Thursday night. He said he could take a cab and I said, "Out of the question."

Anyway, I had to tell you all that to get to this:

When I went to bed last night at 10:30, this is what the bike looked like:

When I woke up at 4:30 today, this is what I saw:

Is he the fucking MAN or what?! I said, "When will it be finished?" He replied, "Tomorrow afternoon." Hmmm. I said, "Friday afternoon?" He said, "I haven't been to bed yet, so tomorrow is Thursday for me." So, the Annabelle should be back up and running today. And after spending that much money on her, she better not break down anytime soon! I don't think there's anything left to fix on her anyway!

I'll have another update later today. Peace out!

New Course Tonight

Tonight I start my new course...Oral Communications. That's public speaking. I HATE public speaking. I guess if I could have a few drinks before class it would be ok, but I can't. :( At least it's only 5 weeks! Wish me luck!