Wednesday, August 31, 2011

CL&P restoration hot-link

If you text OUTAGE and your zip code to 24612 you will receive a restoration status.

I just sent mine...

I received a text back saying there are no reported outages in my area,

I knew it!!!

My old man must be shutting down the mains at home so I don't go out!!!

Thursday night Mystery Ride

followed by ?

Here's the plan!!!

A.O.B. David's Place 6:30pm
Mystery Ride ending at the Club,

If the Club is dark (no power) there will be another Mystery Ride!!!

Power

I am assuming if you can see this blog you do not live in the eastern half of Connecticut. I visited the CL&P wesite and checked out their "outage map"  If you live east of the Connecticut River you will probabbly be better off calling this their "Outa-map" because you are outa power, outa the correct half of the state that has been worked on and outa luck.

Let me give you a rough idea,

Groton 5818 without power
Stonington 5349 without power
North Stonington has only 2534 without power but that is actually a-lot considering they only have 2534 customers in North Stonington.
Ledyard 5880 out of 6563

Jump up the map to Lebanon 84%  out
East Haddam 88% out
Canterbury 96% out
Plainfield 85% out
Woodstock 66% out

Drive across the Conn river and
Berlin 0.81% out that's 77 people out of 9491
Newington 0.74  107 people out of 14555
Hartford 1% out
Thomaston 0.24     9 out of 3754
Watertown 5%
Suffield / Enfield 1%

So you see, you live on the Wrong side of the river. For some reasons the towns close to Hartford on the east side of the river are doing pretty good also.

I guess CL&P has to keep the Politicians happy.

Feel free to visit their link

http://outage.cl-p.com/outage/outagemap.aspx

Here's a flash for any on line gamers


Because sometimes you just have to piss off your friends

http://drennor.com/media.php?id=626

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Sandwich dropped me a line yesterday

For the 911 ride he wants to know if he should ride his bike here and then the ride or ride Amanda's bike. I told him his bike is tried and true, hers has been sitting, it already had an issue with the fork seals and who knows what seals may go next, the last thing I'm sure he wants is to have the bike crap out in New York City.
He agrees but the idea of the Ohio, Connecticut,New York, Connecticut, Ohio Iron Butt thing is sounding less attractive as the days go by.  I told him he can ride Bitch with Tree, he's done it before and he has the pin.
I told him he can ride Bitch on mine but he will need to shave and wear a wig.


klay

One of our members slept in the Crack motel

He said it was the first time he slept with his pistol next to him.

I told him that those Crack heads are pretty fast, he should put a round in the chamber, leave the safety off and put the pistol under his pillow.





klay

Day 3, powerless

Unlike a few club members who are staying at the local crack motel, I and my father are, in the mountain man spirit of Tom, roughing it at home. My day starts with getting up, in the dark, washing up, in the dark, (water heated on gas stove), getting dressed in the dark, and going to work where there is light and AC and cable and computers. My father stays home, in the dark. This morning the water in the tub ran out, (used for flushing toilets) so I went out to the wheel barrow and brought water from that in, added bleach, (to kill any mosquito larvae, (last thing I need is a bathroom full of flying bloodsuckers)). Emptied out the freezer this morning and brought it to work. So far we had sausage and ham steak. Have to cook up the food and eat it, better than tossing it out. I did throw out an entire garbage can full of food. Today we will be eating hamburgers, lamb chops, ground pork burgers, baked scallops, stuffed clams, and steaks. One of the other guys brought in corn on the cob, and tomatoes.

My main concern is laundry, I hate going to the Laundromat, but if there is no power tonight it looks like that is where I will be going. I guess I will be going out and buying some canned foods and such.

The power in my area ends 3 miles away on rte 184 in Center Groton, It is rather depressing to have none, drive up one road and find it, knowing that CL&P has now promised it will be between 7 and 11 days for everyone to be back on line.

klay


Monday, August 29, 2011

Two members of the club are sitting in the dark..

Sitting in the dark in their living room, Nothing works because they are without power. They sat there all morning as the wind blew outside, they sat there in the afternoon even as the storm died. Then without warning one of them stood, turned to the other and said, 'I'm going into the bedroom to watch TV', and off down the hall she went.
 The other stayed sitting, thinking, wondering, trying to get what she said straight, there is no power in here, and no power in there, so how can she watch TV?
It bothered him, not knowing, to not understand, so he stood and he walked down the hall to see what she did did mean. He walked in the room and found it was true, there she sat with her face glued to a blank screen.
He said "What are you doing, it's off, it's dead, there's no power for it to work."
She replied, "I know, I'm not blind, I'm not dumb, I know there's no picture, i know it is dark, I know there is no signal coming through, it still, is better than sitting and staring at you."

klay

(true story)

I just love technology

Let's see, I have an oil fired furnace, a gas stove, and I have gas hot water heater. You have to love the twenty first century. It is amazing how much our lives revolve around electricity. No power means there is no way the oil fired furnace will run. I have hot water but without power the water pump doesn't pull the water out of the well to get the hot water to the faucet, so no hot water, no cold water. We live in the land of microwave cooking and cell phones. The microwave is a useless waste of space on the counter and the cell towers had trouble during the storm. The regular phone worked all day. I do have a fireplace so I can heat the place if I have to, except I keep no wood because I never use the fireplace. I can't wash the clothes with out water and power, but I have a gas dryer and it needs power to operate. There is no TV and no cable, it gets dark around 7pm and I mean DARK. Video games are useless as is a computer. I have a laptop with a battery pack, I had operating phones so, if I had a modem that didn't require electricity I would have been cruising the net. So instead, we sat around a dark house with a couple candles and a kerosene lamp burning. We listened to the radio on a portable battery powered unit, but at 7pm with the radio station saying they were expecting more storm in the afternoon you realized it was pre-recorded, and the bulletins were about useless. Now there is one good thing I have that another member of the club does not, he is a techno-fool, loves new stuff. he got rid of his wood stove and went with a pellet stove, it is a lot easier to keep fuel and a lot less hassle to get it. He also bought a gas stove. my gas stove has gas pilot lights his has electric ignitors, and electric fuel valves, so what he has is a electric stove that uses gas. So he has no stove. And his pellet stove? That's right, it requires electricity to run so he couldn't even throw a coffee pot on top to make coffee the way he could with the wood stove.

So in a sense without electricity we became Amish.

The only good thing about technology, is that we record everything digitally, so in a couple hundred years long after we use all the worlds resources and become extinct, anyone visiting this planet will have no history of our race after 1980, there will be no film, because we don't use it anymore, even our newspaper history files will be gone because they are stored electronically, the good thing is they won't have pictures of those of us who did what we did to end it all, no 'proof' per say.

klay

Wonderful

If you have no power at work today, you should be rejoicing !! I went out for a while, rode around Mystic, Groton, New London and Montville, The weather is Fantastic, Why are you at work? Why am I at work? Why is anyone at work...we should be riding. Which brings me to another point. Jason has today off...Is he riding or sitting at home in the dark?

How was your visit from Irene?

New London, along Pequot avenue


This is what my road looked like except the branches were smaller

New London at Ferry Docks (Photos from the Day paper)

Luckily before it arrived it was down-sized to a class 1 then a tropical storm. Still it did enough damage with the winds it did bring.

Not to happy with the power company. I awoke early on Sunday and started watching SPEED TV the GP2 race before the F1 race, with the storm barely upon us the power went out, 6:55am,  and haven't seen it since. I was ready for the storm, three sump pumps, (useless by the way without power), two wheel barrows outside to collect water,(have a well,no power, no water), built a wooded water buffer for the basement door, had plenty of candles and flashlights. Luckily the rain didn't amount to much so no flooding at the house. Halfway through the day I remembered I have a Laptop so we watched a couple movies on battery power before that crapped out.

At around 5pm with the storm pretty much over I went out on a quest for cigarettes. I was going to take the bike but one look at the roads covered in pine needles, wet leaves and branches meant I would take the car. I passed Town of Groton plow-trucks working using the snow plows to clear roads. Mystic was boarded and sand-bagged without power, but Mystic Pizza had the doors open and music blasting out into the street. People were walking in for light and food. (Generators were generating money). The Stonington side of the river found trees blocking roads and broken telephone poles. Pizza would have been good but my quest was for cigarettes and the Pizza house doesn't sell them. Everywhere was storm clutter on the roads, dark traffic signals and dark houses. Running up route 27 I arrived at I-95, a oasis in a sea of storm debris. There was nothing on the roads, not a leaf, the street lights worked, gas stations were open and so was The Equinox. I bought smokes, drove past 95, drove past Jerry Brown road, and I was back in storm clutter, Old Mystic there was power, at 27 and 184 that ended and I was back in the dark ages.

How many years has the CL&P dealt with storms and why do they continue to operate with an antiquated system of hanging wires in trees? New housing areas are built with power underground, It still amazes me that CL&P hasn't begun burying the wires. Start small, do a main corridor, then another, and another. They don't have to do it all at once. For instance run the wires under ground along route 32, the following year or two do route 163, with the main roads handled it would mean damage would be confined to side roads, which would decrease the damage area, leaving the main feeders on line. Slowly year by year they could do more till all the main arteries are done.

To continue to hang the wires in the air, and as of late stop pruning the branches around them, then make the comment that there was more damaged than anticipated is a monument to stupidity. What would the damage have been if this had stayed a hurricane?  At what point is the provider responsible to its consumers? No crews out till after the storm, fine, I understand keeping your people safe, but the storm was over on Sunday, and the crews went out when? I for one have yet to see a truck or crew out working. I can say people are not happy, at the restaurant last night CL&P was the main topic of discussion. One question was brought up and talked about,  If you have taken precautions and bought flood control equipment, and you "contract" with a company to supply the power, and flooding does occur, if houses are damaged because the provider fails to have underground wires, and fails to keep the trees trimmed around their wires, can they be held partially responsible for damages. One of the people at the diner was a lawyer and he said, "That is damn good question, a Fire department was sued in New York state because they did not own 5" hose, and that because it was available to them they were held responsible for not saving a building when it burned". He also said that not cutting hazards away from the wires is like a railroad not doing track maintenance and having a derailment."

Anyway, Glad the storm fizzled out, it could have been a lot worse for everyone. Hope you made out well where-ever you are and the damage was minimal or none.

klay

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Mister Yannone has a theory...

And with it, a warning, and a bit of advise.

Vinny says, "You shouldn't be worried about hurricanes, Have you noticed the earthquakes?" Washington DC, Peru, Pacific ocean  with Tsunamis.

 "Let's say you have a ceramic ball, you're carrying it around and you drop it, it gets a crack, then a while later it happens again, another crack, The years go by and over time it has been dropped and knocked around and it is full of little cracks. Then one day you drop it again and it breaks in half. This is what I think is going to happen with the earth, it is just like a hollow ceramic ball and one day it is just going to break in half."

"What you have to do when this happens is make sure you and your bike are on the same side, cuz you can't live without your bike." 

Thursday night meeting
08/25/2011


The Dream Ride has been cancelled

Just because one woman with an attitude has threatened to show up and make a scene, the promoters of the ride have decided to cancel Sundays ride.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

traffic



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzjifmHavAQ

There's something wrong with my head!!!

I was sitting at my desk today at work, actually working on my computer when I felt a vibration, it was weird, it was like my brain and insides vibrated. At first I thought..."What the hell was that?" I felt it a second time, I looked at my coffee on the table, no fluid movement. "I knew it, I'm having a mental shut-down!" I was going to ask if anyone else felt it, but with no visible proof, I decided to keep my mouth shut, so I wouldn't look like an idiot.

About 40 or so minutes later, one of my employees, came out and asked if I felt the earthquake, Ah-Ha!! I am not nuts, (well) I am not on the verge of a major system shut down. He said it is all over the web, a earthquake hit DC and they felt it in Boston. I asked my people if they felt it...No, not one of them. Now they were looking at me like I was making it up. Then the service writer said he felt it, the girls on the second floor felt it, Vindication!!!.

I have to say it was not what I expected, it didn't feel as if my body felt the earth move, it was more like my brain and my insides moved but not my physical being. It was rather disconcerting. But...now knowing I don't have any major issues, all I need now is the bike's issues taken care of.

When cruising along, it occasionally feels like a growl in the drive and it works its way through the frame and floorboards. It is sort of a low Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr vibration and noise. I have the bike scheduled for its 15,000 service at TSI on Sept 7. So I called them so they can look into the matter when it gets there. Another thing I will have them look at is my volt gauge, it suffers from condensation. And I called TSI again this afternoon, because I found a rust stain coming from the right front fork top at the triple tree, it went from the top of the tube all the way down to the lower section. Hopefully everything can be taken care of on the 7th, because the 911 ride is only three days later.

klay

This post has no purpose

Just 19 more days

Yes just 19 more days and we will be heading south and west on the Merritt, and the Hutch, the New England thruway and the Whitestone expressway. 

QUEENS!!!

Staring point for the September 11th ride.

Yes...another year with tape on my reg.



klay

It is near the end of August.

Do you know what that means?

Labor day is just 12 days away, and that means summer is just about at an end. Where were those hot summer rides of last year? Labor day is the 5th of September, kids will be back in school, buses will once again rule the morning roads.

The other thing you will notice is the coolness of the mornings and evenings, soon cut off gloves will give way to full gloves, then the chaps will come out of storage, and jackets out of the closets.

So just a little more time will go by and with it the freedom of the motorcycle, replaced by layers of underwear, outerwear, coats, scarves, heated gear and ....

It's almost fuzzy hat season!!!!


klay

Brings a question to mind



Most people would ask, "Why is a grown man playing with an inflatable dragon?"

But that question doesn't really need to be answered, it's because men like to play. just like they did when they were boys.
(reportadly he said the Dragon was challenging him and he had to show it who was in charge)


My question is slightly different.
It has to do with the fact that these photos were taken at Mark Llorets, it was August 20th. That was a Saturday, and the weather was great. So...

Why is this man wearing a sweater in the pool?
Was the water cold?

klay

Vinny Pon's photos

Beavertail Ride
Is the VP cleaning his bike already?



Kind of reminds you of the Blessing Shirts doesn't it, Bikes riding off into the clouds

Monday, August 22, 2011

Who's at Woodstock?



All playing up at The Woodstock Fair in Woodstock CT
on Labor Day Weekend
Foghat - Friday 9/2 @8:45pm
The Outlaws - Saturday 9/3 @8:30pm
The Guess Who - Monday 9/5 @4:00pm
Admission to the Fair is $12.00 (no extra charge for the bands)
 
Vinny

The Sunday Ride to Beavertail

I was not on it, but then I had not planned on being on it.

My plan was for a Saturday ride across Connecticut and New York (in a car) to the Great State of Pennsylvania. There I was to go to Bethlehem and Allentown to take Railroad photos of Norfolk Southern, then visit Jim Thorpe, Port Clinton, Tamaqua and film Blue Mountain and Reading. Ride up through Hazelton and spend the night in the Wilkes-Barre area. On Sunday I was to awake (always a good thing) chase the Delaware Lackawanna Railroad, then visit Steamtown in Scranton. From there I was to switch gears and visit Mohegan Sun Wilkes-Barre, roll down to Mount Airy Lodge in the Poconos before heading east to Yonkers and Empire Casino before heading home.

But as usually happens when you plan something, something goes wrong, in this case I got ill. So I spent the day at home stareing at the walls, and watching movies with my father. I find it absolutly amazing how many movies from the 30's and 40's are still in existance, I am also amazed at how many of them shouldn't be.

Anyway...back to the Sunday ride,
12 bikes,  Vinny Pons sent me photos and I will post them this evening when I get home.


klay

Thursday, August 18, 2011

NEW BIKE!!!!

I went to TSI yesterday and picked out a new ride, It is a 2012 Road Glide, 103, Denim black, black tubes, removable tourpak, CB, Upgrade and screaming eagle pipes. Trade in the Street Glide, and ride like new.
Well,

Heard back today, payments will be $485.00 a month with $2000.00 down

Ah... No

I can swing the 485.00, My payments right now are $360.00 a month and I drop $500./month to keep a buffer, but having to pay 500.00 plus a down payment, NO

So the Street glide will be going in for its 15000 mile service and I will continue to buy the CB one piece at a time.

And I'll buy a couple cans of Krylon Flat black paint.

klay

What did you do today?


Let's see, I woke up, had a Charlie Horse in my left leg,(Who was Charlie, and why would they name a horse that?)
I jumped on my bike and headed to Ricks. As I turned onto route 207 I had another bike behind me, It followed me all the way to Rick's driveway.

Tree and Amanda picked up A's bike and took off, I moved the bike inside and Rick started the front brakes, tree called, we went back to working on the brakes, tree called, we took a break from the brakes and headed to downtown (he-he) Lebanon.
I am not crazy about the touchy throttle on a Sport Bike, took me a couple seconds to figure out how softly to use it to start off. The bike gets to 75mph real quick. gets to zero pretty fast also.

back at Ricks I parked A's  bike and we went back to work on the brakes. The front brakes were about half thickness, the rears were...well you know that material that brakes have to grab the rotor, that was...ah..gone..for that matter so was some of the metal that holds it.

Brakes done Rick and I grabbed the bikes and (hey, brakes work) hit the road, we went across back roads, split a family of deer, two fawns broke left and ran back and forth in a driveway, mom headed for the bushes on the opposite side of the road. We continued on to Columbia Motorsports.where the conversation revolved around rust, gas and carbs.
from there we headed to TSI, I went in to talk to a sales guy and afterwards Rick and I headed across 14 to find Bub.

We met him part way up 14 towards Canterbury, joined up we headed for Ekonk and Turkey sandwiches. Then we headed down 49 to North Stonington and cruised the back roads between North Stonington and Clarks Falls. Afterwards we stopped by and visited Amanda before running 214 across Ledyard, I broke off and headed home leaving Rick and Bubba to find there way back home.

klay 

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

A Round to the chest

Riding down route 12 with his wife on the back of the bike, halfway between Plainfield and Jewitt City, near the Agway, That is exactly what Keith (Bub's son) caught, a round in the chest. Luckily for him it was a BB. Now some may say a BB? But that BB went through his leather vest, and through his shirt before his chest caught it. Luckily again it didn't penetrate, but the report is that it hurt like HELL. Now picture if he had caught that in his face, or it entered between the Vest flaps. A leather vest is pretty thick and it put a hole through it.


Police report this is not the first instance, but it is the first on a bike. They have many reports of windshields shot out on route 395 in that area, so far, no clues.


So if you are passing through that area, watch out. A BB gun may the this persons starting point. There is no telling if this person may graduate to something bigger.

klay

klay

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Whatever happened to Real Americans?

Benjamin Stoddert (1751-1813) Served as a Captain in a Pennsylvania regiment during the Revolutionary War, later he was Secretary to the Continental Board of War, Asked by George Washington to buy tracts of land along the Potomac before word got out of the nations capital being built there. He then transferred ownership to the Government. He helped found the Bank of Columbia to handle the purchases, President Adams made him the First Secretary of the Navy (1798-1801). As such he established 6 Navy yards, and advocated building twelve Ships of the Line. He found himself in an undeclared naval war with France, not having enough Sea power to patrol all the areas of Merchant shipping, he decided the best defence was to attack the French ships in the Caribbean. He also established the Navy Department Library as a result of instructions received from President Adams. Neglecting his own business interests his finances plummeted, after leaving office he did land speculation but lost out, Benjamin Stoddert Died destitute.

These were men with heart, men who believed that you served the Government to Serve your Country. The original Idea behind Congress was to have normal citizens, farmers, merchants, serving the office. People who knew what it was like to be...One of the people.

There was a long period in this nations history when politicians were required to sever ties with business so as to be able to make un-bias decisions for the good of the nation and it's people. Today, there is an atmosphere of greed in the nations Capitol. politicians move into office and try to make it a permanent occupation. They make millions working with Companies they have interest in. They vote themselves raises, receive benefits during office and after they leave.

Maybe what we need is for the people in charge today to take a long hard look at what those that came before them did and planned. A long look back, not just the last 40 years or so. the only time these people today acknowledge anything from the past seems to be when they are quoting someone from their own party to help them in their election.

Take a look back people, look at the plans our Founding Fathers had, and try to live up to their standards.

klay

JUNIOR CAME THROUGH

Junior switched his diet this weekend, he cut out all meats and vegetables, he also cut out fruits and grains.

He spent the entire weekend eating thread.

We now have patches

Monday, August 15, 2011

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Middletown Mania shots













By Dave Hagar Adams

No Bike, No Dog, and it's raining...

Not a great weekend, I am currently watching a dog for my nephew who is currently, let us say, unavailable to do so himself as he is a guest of the State. There is no telling yet how long his current vacation will last, so I have been going to his house and making sure Max (Red Nosed Pit Bull), gets to go outside, has food and water. When I first had the chore I tried to get a friend of his (we'll call him Paul), to take care of it, but he was out of the area. He did let me know that the dog is co-owned by a friend of my nephew and he would try to get him to take the dog. That was a week and a half ago. Last night we stopped in, after cruising the back roads in the area, I figured I would let Jerry see the dog because the dog is cool, it's always smiling. I opened the door and had no response from the dog, an inspection of the house found the dog is gone, so is its food and its bowls. So I am assuming the "other" owner picked the dog up. A note or something would be nice. Not sure I called my niece to get the phone number for "Paul" so he can find out if the "other" owner actually has the dog, it would be nice to know. As of this morning I am still waiting to hear from my niece.

As we cruised back to my house I noticed an unpleasant sound from the bike. the bike is due for it's 15,000 mile service which through Harley Davidson is more expensive than it should be, well now it needs rear brake pads also, which I also guarantee cost more than they have to. It being Sunday, I cannot call to get the bike in until tomorrow. The bike is only a year old so you pretty much have to have it serviced at the dealer for warranty purposes. So the bike is parked

I was going to spend the day out on the bike with Julie, but again, no bike. We could have gone to Misquamicut and spent the day at the beach, but.....Rain.


klay

Saturday, August 13, 2011

This is Saturday!!!

The sun is shining, the air is warm, there's not a trace of a cloud in the sky,

Fire that bad boy up, crank the throttle, put your feet up and cruise.

The roads are calling you!!!

169, 214, 201, 164, 14, 97, and lots of other funky numbers, and let us not forget all those back roads that take us absolutely nowhere but are a blast to fly through.

 Don't waste your day in front of the tube, forget the yard, it will be there, drop the kids at the grand parents, hire that guy on the corner holding the sign to watch them, who cares. A day like today is meant for riding and tomorrow is going to suck.

So get out there!!!
Feel the wind, smell the air, and cruise!!!

klay



PS: As you are riding along give a thought to all of us dregs who are stuck at work.

Friday, August 12, 2011

From the President

 
All are invited to attend:
Sunday 08/14/11
Destination TBD based on weather
Possible ride to Middle of Nowhere Diner in RI
AOB 10:00am Dunkin Donut's Rte 32 Uncasville
Ride cancelled if forecast is for severe rain happens.
Thursday 08/18/11
Mystery Ride
AOB 6:30pm David's Place Rte 85 across the road
from the Dinosaur Museum
Saturday 08/20/11
Lloret Pool Party
95 Salem Road, Prospect, Ct., 06712 (203)758-7618
Potluck - Bring a dish
Sunday 08/21/11
Beavertail Picnic Run
AOB: 10:00am Dunkin Donut's Rte 32 Uncasville, CT.
AOB: 11:00am McDonalds, Rte 184, N. Stonington
Pack a box lunch and a beverage and enjoy the
Narragansett Bay from Beavertail Lighthouse Point,
Jamestown, RI
Thursday 08/25/11
Mystery Ride
AOB: 6:30pm David's Place Rte 85 across the road
from the Dinosaur Museum
Sunday 08/21/11
Dream Ride, Farmington Country Club
AOB: 8:30am Dunkin Donut's Rte 32, Uncasville
Leaving from Mike's Famous H.D.
(NLMC New London County & Washington Cty)
AOB: 9:00am TSI Harley Davidson, Columbia, CT.
(NLMC Windham County & Tolland County)
AOB: 9:00am Guilford Police Department
(NLMC Middlesex County & New Haven Cty)
Check with your County Chair to see if a pre-departure meet
is being arrange prior to the official departure point.
The plan is to have all three groups of NLMC rider's to re-group
in Farmington just outside the Country Club
Register upon arrival or Pre-Register on line www.dreamride.org
11:00am Dream Ride 40 miles
11:30am to 1:00pm Party, live music, Steak & Chicken dinner.

From the President

This sounds like a blast. If there is any interest let me know and I will research lodging. I already did a quick look. It will be in the neighborhood of $ 175.00/night. Jim
If you are going to be in Ocean City Maryland for Bike Week please come over to Dead Freddie's on The Bay and join us for a good Time....
Our Theme this year is “Party Like a Pirate...Arrrrr”
Walt Kuch

Learn to speak Chinese

Follow the link



http://drennor.com/media.php?id=783

Pride

Thursday, August 11, 2011

APTITUDE TEST

There are reason's I don't use them when I hire people



If I did, there would be that many more people on un-employment

Middletown Motorcycle Mania

Wednesday, August 10th, 2011

Ride Report



On Wednesday, August 10th, 2011, the Club was heading to Middletown to support Vinny Yannone, the Middlesex Membership District and Middletown Motorcycle Mania. I left work at 4:30 pm where I was picked up by the President. We headed towards the meet spot of Wal-Marts of Waterford were we met Joe Fogarty and Rich Jones who were already there. More people showed up. We left with I think was nine bikes, ten people. Road Sgt Joe Fogarty led the ride with Rich Woodhall as tail gunner. We arrived in Middletown between 5:30 and 6:00 pm. We parked the bikes and did some walking where we found our booth. The booth already had six members there to help out. Another seven members showed up later. We walked the strip for like twenty minutes and got bored so we headed back to the booth. I really don’t care much for this event, but I went to support the Club due to the fact we had a booth there and I had business cards that were finished the day before I had to give to Vinny. We did some more walking. The President bought some sunglasses. We looked at bikes. The President and I left at 7:00 pm with two others. 7:00 pm turned into 7:15 pm because people were coming up to us that haven’t seen the President in a long time. We got home about 8:30 pm because of construction on I-95 North between exits 73-75.

Niagara Falls Ride Report


The Story of the Wild Hogs + 1





On Wednesday, August 3rd, 2011, five motorcycles,  seven people left Connecticut to venture to a foreign country known as Canada. I know, I know, according to our Road Guard Captain, “Canada is not a real country.” The Cop, First Lady and the kid met The Driller and his wife for 8:00 am at David’s Place in Montville. From there, we picked up The Mason and his wife at Dunkin Donuts in Colchester. Don’t ask me which way we went because, as you all already know, I just follow and don’t pay attention to how we got there. We had a couple gas stops, one where we had breakfast and coffee and the other we had some lunch. Up until this point, you could not have asked for better weather. The sun was shining, with not a cloud in the sky. I actually was enjoying the ride. I have always been a guy about the destination and never really cared for the ride itself. When we left the lunch gas stop, there were talks about rain gear because the weather didn’t look pleasant. The Driller suggested he would stop first signs of rain. Not many believed him because for some reason, he has a reputation for not stopping. The crew still listened. About 10 minutes down the road, the skies started to open up and surprisingly enough, the Driller pulled over so we could put rain gear on. For what had started as a gentle sprinkle turned out into a downpour. At one point, I lost sight of the Driller for a couple of seconds and all I could see was his tail light. About a hundred miles of riding in the rain, we finally arrive to the Best Western: Captain’s Quarters, where we would be staying for the night. As you can see below, the First Lady’s hands are yet to come clean. So we checked in and unpacked. Thankfully enough, the hotel let us park our bikes overnight underneath the front door overhang so the bikes could stay dry. So we all later met up for dinner where we ate down the road. I couldn’t remember the name of the restaurant, but the food was great. Service was awesome too. (The girl was wicked cute.) We ate, and then did what we normally do on away trips, went to the bar across the street where we fed the Driller lots of shots. We had some drinks, I got to watch the Yankee game. I felt at home with all Yankee fans around me instead of Red Sox fans trying to kill me. We left the bar and turned in for the night.


On Thursday, August 4th, 2011, we met outside of the hotel for a 9:30 am AOB and of course we left on time at 9:45 am. Everyone else, besides the Kid met for breakfast because the Kid enjoys his sleep. We finally left the hotel en route to Niagara Falls. More scenic roads, and the weather was back to being awesome. We stopped for gas because we were all low and left from there. While on the road, the Driller kept trying to communicate with the rest of the pack. The rest thought there radios weren’t working because we couldn’t understand why we couldn’t here him. We stopped at what I believed was a church, because the Driller felt, he took a wrong turn. (Surprise, surprise) Before we left the church, the Driller realized his mic wasn’t plugged in. We got re situated and headed back on the road. I do know we passed Lake Ontario and what a gorgeous lake. Very blue. We stopped for lunch at Joe’s World’s Greatest Burgers and of course, the Driller had chicken. The burgers were awesome. We finished up and back on the road we go. We stopped at a gas station where you would see out of a horror movie. Dirty everywhere. I was waiting for some guy to come out of the woods and try to hack us up. We finally get to the border. Boy, what traffic. We get to customs and all go through. Two of us, not going to mention any names, got randomly searched by customs. (Contest: Who can guess who those two people are?) They just couldn’t understand why a bunch of Americans had pistol permits and couldn’t understand why we have guns. Reminder: nobody had any illegal items going into Canada, (Official Disclaimer). Finally we are all back together, and on our way. The Hilton was only 10 minutes from where we were. We arrived to the Hilton and what a gorgeous hotel. A casino walkway attached to the hotel. A nice outdoor bar. A giant swimming pool with a slide. We had a view of both Falls from our room. We unpacked and met up in the lobby for 6pm where we ate at the Skylon tower. Food was OK, wasn’t the greatest. Of course, everything in Canada has a 28% tax included. Especially a tourist improvement tax. After we ate, we traveled to the Casino. Nice casino, no better then a Mohegan, but still festive with all the lights. You can’t use your American money though. You had to go to a Currency Exchange, which basically was an ATM. The thing that was sad was you stick a $100.00 bill and you only get $93.00 back in Canadian money. (Thank Uncle Sam for that one) We gambled, and we left. I was up $60.00 and deposited back into the Casino because I’m just that nice of guy. We met up at the bar outside. Great bar. Once again, great service. You had a Vegas look outside the hotel because it was so busy, but the air had a Florida feel. Once again, we made the Driller do some more shots, and I have to say he cowboy’d up. Two, three beers later, some went to bed and The Kid went back to the Casino because he wasn’t ready to sleep yet. Left the casino because it was 2:30 am and The Kid had to meet everyone at, that’s right, 9:30 am again.

On Friday, August 5th, 2011, the rest of the crew met for breakfast at 8:30 am, but not the Kid because he was out till 2:30 am. So the Kid finally crawled out of bed about 9:00 am and met everyone around 9:30 am in the lobby. We walked over to a cable ride that took us down a mountain to Niagara Falls. We get off and wasn’t prepared for all the moisture and wetness coming from the Falls. We do some walking and find out one of the things the group wants to do is like a couple miles away, so we get a cab for seven people. Well the cab gets here and tells us he can only carry six people and the fact he could be fined $2,500 if caught. So when we went pass a Police Officer, which we did, one person just ducked down. We arrive to a cable tram ride over the Whirlpool which was fun. We left and the Mason and his wife went to do the Maid of the Mist. None of the rest wanted to do because we saw people soaked, and we just got socked on Wednesday and that was for free. So the rest of us did some shopping and had lunch at Applebees. Good food, good service. I don’t think there was one place with bad service. We finished up and left. Some went back to the hotel, while I went on my own. In the mean time, I have to include the Driller tried to open his Hilton hotel room with a Best Western key. We met at 6:30 pm at a restaurant called, “My Cousin Vinny’s.” We finished up, and went to do some more gambling. Lost money this time and met at the same outside bar. Did some more drinking and some went to bed. The Kid stayed behind to finish watching the Yankee game and watched the only win from the whole series. The Kid went to sleep.

On Saturday, August 6th, 2011, everyone met up for 9:30 am ish AOB. We checked out of the Hilton, packed the bikes up and off we went. We sat in line for a while to get back into the States. After hearing stories how the guys are pricks coming back over the border, not one gave us any trouble. We all reconvened back in the States. We were all set and back onto the road. We stopped at one gas station and had lunch where it started to sprinkle again. This gas station, the gas was pushed just a little bit. A little bit meaning the first lady was on reserve, The Driller’s light was on and I was almost there. We ate and decided to put some rain gear on. I thought we got punished enough on Wednesday, but the skies opened up again. I don’t remember how long we were in the rain this time. We finally get to the Holiday Inn of New Hartford, NY where I have to say, the Driller went flying by the first time. There were a lot of U-Turns and curb jumping this part of the trip. We check in and they tell us we can’t leave the bikes under the overhang. So we move them to find out later, the manager said we could. Here The Driller’s brother and wife meet us. We check in and meet for dinner in the hotel. We eat and the service was good. They actually had to card everyone because it was policy. Some didn’t like the idea, but it was policy. We later had drinks where more stories were told. I heard new sound effects come out of the Driller. The Driller had his room key stolen by the Mason’s wife. You have to let him tell you the story on this one. Other stories was finished, drinks were empty so everyone went to bed.

On Sunday, August 7th, 2011, people went to breakfast for 8:30 am in the hotel. I stumbled in a little later. We checked out and back on the road. Weather called for rain, but the Driller said he would stop and since he stopped before, I believed him. He was right. Gorgeous hot weather. We stopped for lunch and gas. We finished up, said our Good-Byes and back on the road where it was all smooth sailing. We caught maybe five seconds of the Connecticut storm that came through. Nothing else left to say on this day because it was the end of the trip and I was probably exhausted from all the drinking and getting up early.

Side note: Two toll booths actually let us go for free because they couldn’t believe how organized we were. We had the Driller pay for everyone and he was reimbursed.
The trip was a blast. Great time. Great stories. For me I would do this again in a heart beat. For all those who know me, I would rate this trip like going to a Yankee’s World Series game.



Jr

Cooking? Looking for ideas?

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Shrimp Scampi Bake

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Slacker!!!

I know this guy who works for me, well, I pay him and he hangs out on Yankees websites, sends texts to everyone and talks on his cell phone. But...That's not why I'm writing this.

I am writing this because he went on the Niagra Ride, I know you all read his Ride Report.

Last night he went to Middletown Mania.

His report is it looked bigger than last year with more vendors.

I'm sure you read that story also...

You didn't?

That's probably because he hasn't written anything. Nothing, Nada.

I guess he's too busy,

I mean as I write this he is on his Cell phone, at work, talking to someone about Women.


klay

Sunday's Ride

There was and possibly still is a ride planned for Sunday, Beavertail Park in Jamestown RI.

BUT


There is also a major possiblity of Rain


RAIN

So, if it rains, put on your rain suits and we can go somewhere else perhaps.
Sandwiches on the Rocks, next to the ocean, on a rainy windy day just doesn't work

Bread gets soggy and falls apart.

But we'll see

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Some people are having problems finding the blog

To help those out having difficulty, If you can read this....You found it

Tired of riding along listening to the same old songs?



Over played tunes run by the radio stations everyday

Tired of hearing only hits from groups when they had so many songs that were good songs but didn''t make the top ten?

Well now Thanks to Big Bear Recording Studios you can hear hundreds of songs performed by the original artists that didn't make it to the Greats list but were good solid songs none the less.

Songs like:

“Plexiglass toilet”  (Rock)                        (Don't sit down on the plexiglass toilet, said the
by Styx                                                     momma to the sun, wipe the butt clean with the
                                                                paper, make it nice for everyone”)

****************************************************************************

“Frijolero” by Molotov    (Rock)              (“Don't call me Gringo you @#$%ing Beaner”)

***************************************************************************

“Gravey”         (Best Guess)                      ( "I'd like a large glass of cold Gravey, with a
                                                                   by The Monkees hair in it please”)

****************************************************************************

“Stuck up”         (Country)                        (“There was a young girl from down in
by Clyde Jackson                                        El Paso, Who got a coke bottle stuck ...")

****************************************************************************

A Billy Goat and my girl”  (Country)                (“Oh there ain't no hair on a billy Goat's
by Joshua Evans                                               --- cause a Billy goats --- is shiny,
                                                                         and there ain't no hair between the
                                                                            legs of the girl I left behind me.”)

*****************************************************************************

And Many Many more, so Act now, and you'll never have to listen to the greats again. Just send $25.00 to PO Box 811180 South Smithvilleton Tenn.

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Junior's Back!!!

Yes!!! Junior is back at work today, after six days of Riding and drinking in New York and our neighbor Country to the north. I have a sneaking hunch there was a lot of drinking, when someone asked him if he saw the Falls at night with the lights he said, "I could see them from the Hotel" Did he go outside at all once he got there, and if so was it just to get from one bar to another?

Whatever the case,

From the way he is performing his duties this morning, I am led to believe he destroyed a lot more brain cells than he could afford to.

Monday, August 8, 2011

1ST ANNUAL FALLEN VETS RIDE

First prize was a week in Long Island. Won with three Aces

Second prize, the Prize I won with three 10s, the prize didn't win because I left, a weekend on Block Island OR 2 days at Mohegan Sun.

I'm OK with not winning, Two days on Block Island for a guy who doesn't drink is two days standing with tourists looking at the water, Hey, I live in Mystic, I can do that anytime.

The other choice, Two days at Mohegan Sun?  First two days in a casino for a person with a gambling problem is equal to heaven, if they have money, I would be tapping the credit cards (not smart). Secondly, I'm barred from Mohegan Sun, so what I would have actually received is a jail sentence for Criminal Trespass.

I'm glad I left early, although I did have raffle money in the 50/50 and the raffles, I was trying for Ink, but...couldn't stick around for it so gave the tickets to Mike with the Saxons. Hope he made out,I heard that they did take three of the raffles.

klay

Sunday, August 7, 2011

What Gut???

The 1st Annual Fallen Veterans Ride

I got up and looked out the window, was it still raining?  The rain had started the night before and a quick look out the back door told me the answer, No..it was not raining, it was pouring. When one thinks of rain they think individual drops of rain falling lightly of heavily from the sky, today was like a solid curtain.
Being the Road Sergeant for New London County and knowing the Road Captain was up north for a wedding, I know I would be going to Montville rain or shine. One good thing though, two years ago, after the trip to New Hampshire where I got to ride home in a thunderstorm, I went online to J&P and bought a rain suit, Today I found out...it fits, and it works great. Danny called me and asked if I was going on the run and asked "bike or car?" I wanted to say car but then the thought struck me, these men died, defending the country, for me, and for all of those that live here whether they want to believe it or not. How could I not ride my bike because I would get wet, when they gave up everything so that I could..
So I put on the suit, jumped on the bike and hit I-95. At exit 88 two cars ahead of me, I assume found water over the road, both went into the guard rails. All I saw was a column of mist and auto parts rise into the air, I slowed, moved to the right and picked my way through the debris field, then continued on my way. There were enough cars around that I was sure someone would call 911 so some sap on a motorcycle wouldn't have to dig into his togs, and make a cell phone call from a bike.
I arrived at Montville, filled the tank, went to DD for coffee and waited for the Club to arrive. A.O.B. was set for 10am.
9:50 came and went, 9:55 came and went, 10am came so I went. alone. As I pulled onto 32 for the 100 foot ride down the road to the American Legion I saw Danny at the gas pump, I indicated where I was heading, pulled in parked and waited for him.
We signed up and headed out, down 32 to Nowhere then I-95 across to Groton, jumped off on Allyn street and ran through Mystic to the VFW there. At the VFW we showed the VFWers how to run the poker hands since there was no dealer there yet. Then we headed up 27 to the Equinox for coffee before continuing on.

Mystic is a Tourist destination, there people walk downtown and view the shops, and spend money, or they visit the Seaport and walk from building to building and building to ship examining the displays, they go to the Aquarium and Titanic museum, walk around all the outside tanks and displays with eyes open wide with wonder at all the oceans creatures, or they visit the Olde Mistick Village and walk from shop to shop. But today, it was pouring so they had nowhere to go, so they had a choice, stay in their motel rooms or go out for breakfast.
The entire seasonal population of Mystic decided on the Equinox. The staff was taking names and counts and telling you there would be a wait.
We didn't.
With the strongest part of the storm now lashing the area we headed up 27 to 201 then across on route 2 to Preston for our 4th card. Visibility was atrocious, rivers and puddles in the road, tree branches here and there, and the rain. The glasses would fog up, the rain was on the inside and outside of the glasses, you felt like you were in a swimming pool. IT was Fantastic. I have never enjoyed a poker run more. The air was warm in the upper 70s so the rain had no adverse effect except to visibility. And it was fun to ride in it. Of course occasionally you would have to reach up, pull your glasses down and say, "There's the road, we're doing OK"

Leaving Preston we ran to Plainfield for the last card, and to say hello to Mikey. From this point on the rain started to break up, and the sky to get lighter, we ran down to Norwichtown and stopped for Coffee and food at Freindly's. We decided to shed the rain suit tops and figured to ride the rest of the way without them, only to find when we came out the door that the rain was back, not hard though, just constant.  

 So we put the suits back on and headed south, as we crossed from 395 to 32 the sun came out, it got hot. We arrived back at the American Legion, turned in our card sheets, grabbed a couple beers and went outside to visit with other people and listen to the music.

Now, I should say that I can listen to most music, but... I hate Country music, and worse yet Karaoke, Oh My God!!!

The original report was to be back at the Legion by 4 for the drawings, so we sat around and waited, we talked with the Saxons and the Leathernecks, we ate, we sat....more Karaoke, (someone shoot me), worse yet, drunk women who think they are wonderful, singing Karaoke, (use a 50calibre please).

At 4pm there was an announcemnet, selling more raffle tickets, at 4:30 they came around with Jagermeister shots, at 443pm they announced all card sheets had to be in by 4:45. They brought out the raffle tables. At 5pm they announced that you can buy raffle tickets, at 5:05 some guy picked up the mike and started singing Karaoke, at 5:05 we were outa there.

Thibbs rode his bike and arrived later, Paul rode in on his bike and gave a donation.

Mike says at Plainfield (he was a dealer) he had a total of 5 bikes show up.

I know it was raining but you had all day, if someone left at noon and started the ride they would have had good weather, Selling more tickets when the people sitting there for most of the day are requesting the raffles pulled, not cool.  The fact that the Club that ran it, was mainly at the Start line bar and not one made the run...

If it is up to me, next year...stop by, make a donation for the Scholarship, and go for a real ride.

Danny and I both gave away our raffle and 50/50 tickets before leaving, I hope they won something, and when I got home I had a text message, I won 2nd best hand with three 10s, Oh well, have to be there to collect. Next best hand goes to?



klay