Right Tool for the Right Job

My daily commute starts and ends with a half mile of dirt road. Every rain spell runs the ruts closer to carving new rivers into what some call a road. I haven't seen a grater since I've been here. Gravel, rocks, et al, however, have not been the most troublesome obstacles getting to and from work. It's the dags. (Snatch, anyone?)

The neighborhood pack of dogs has four large and two smaller dags. I tolerated their twice daily swarm until they got confident enough to get close enough for a boot to the head.

The protocol for dogs is usually to slow down until the dog sets it's pace and then speed away when he lunges. That's fine with one dog on a paved road. Remember, I'm driving around in a rock quarry here with a pack of country dogs out to prove who's most brave.

So, I dusted off the air pistol and loaded it up with BB's. The next morning when I came riding through the usual run two of the usual offenders came running up. The smaller dog caught up to me first and shooting left-handed on a moving scooter turning right on a rocky dirt road I hit the little guy three times. The first BB hit him on the shoulder and he instantly turned to run away and I bounced two more shots off his little ass as he dived for the ditch. The larger dog was confused enough with what was going on to stop his pursuit.

On the way home the two Retrievers came full sprint out of their yard when they saw me coming, dog smiles and all. Again, when they were close enough, I let copper fly. The closest dog yelped and they both stopped chasing me. As I rode away I heard their owner calling them home.

Before you call PETA on me, keep in mind that the BB's don't break the skin. I've actually shot myself with this gun before and while it stings it's not as permanent as my .357.

Fair Weather Riding

This week has been a week of weather for me. Starting last Sunday, I was returning from an overnight trip to Oklahoma to fight the wind sweepin' down the plains. Keeping the jacket zipped up was a must.

Monday was a situation that I didn't have any other but to take the scooter to work, in the heaviest downpour I've ridden in yet. With the gear, I stayed fairly dry, but I did end up with Wet Socks. (Ha, personal joke, that's the name of my fish blog.) The heavy rain isn't as difficult as winds over 25mph.

Tuesday was FOG. Heavy, unrelenting, fog. Fog is now my least favorite riding condition. I had to wipe my faceshield literally every 30 seconds. Visibility is reduced anyway and there were several drivers with no headlights. I'm really considering becoming a traffic cop.

Speaking of, I saw several bikes yesterday running maneuvers through a huge cone track. I rode up to ask what was going on, and it was the Sheriff's office training motorcycle cops.

At least twice a week, a stranger will approach me and say "We'll all be riding those this time next year!" I smile, answer their questions and point them to Vespa of the Ozarks.

The photo is motorcycle parking at the world's largest company. The BMW bike in front of mine has a cool sticker - One Less Car.

Word.

Fire

Long story short - my neighbor burned our duplex down. We're okay.

We've relocated to Gentry with my Grandparents for now, which means a lot more scooting. The blogs have fallen on the immediate priority list and probably will as we continue to work things out. I look forward to getting things stable enough to post regularly again.

Ironically, we were taking the above picture of a random yellow fire hydrant in a random field of yellow flowers while our house was burning down. Ha.