In fact, this young hiker made the ascent in 2001.

Someone asked me the other day where I get all this junk I throw out in this blog. Let me tell you, the sources are wide and varied. You see, I sit at this computerized window to the world all day long doing this and that. I work mostly, but during my coffee breaks, I get a chance to wonder the web.

Hey… What if I were to share with you some of the “neato” things I have found this week? Let me tell you; some of them are pretty goofy.  Know this;  there are web links in this diatribe.  Click on the link to see what it is I am talking about.  Just don’t forget to come back after you have had a chance to browse a bit.

When I was a kid, my folks stored food, water, medical supplies etc. in a closet just in case “they” dropped the big one on us. In school, we practiced our emergency procedures like crawling under our desks in case of a bombing. Today, we really don’t do any more of that nonsense… however, there are folks who still try and make a living by keeping us from harm. Here’s a Bomb Shelter kit manufacturer.

For some reason, large Mega-Yachts get my attention. Still pictures are usually the only way I can get aboard one of these gems of the ocean. However, a video tour has been produced and it really is kind of fun to watch. So click here for the tour of the Floridian Mega Yacht, then sit back and dream.

Not to be out done… I know what I want when I win the $34 million dollar Power Ball lottery. Take a quick look…

It’s not all boats you know. I also have this “thing” for motorcycles and M/C related things. I also enjoy open wheel racing. So what if you could marry the two things together? You know… an Indy Car cockpit using a powerful motorcycle as the engine? This is what you would have; a motorcycle powered Indy Car.

Now… if the BMW K-bike power plant could be used to power a car… Damn… already done. Would you like to see the BMW powered Grinnall car? Just click here…

With the price of gas running into the hundreds of dollars per week, I thought I would try and find a reasonable electric vehicle that could take me around town. You know, like get the dry cleaning, do the shopping and taking “Bowser” to the vet and, oh yeah, all the while I would leave gas guzzling pavement pounders standing at the light. Well, there is a startup electric car manufacturer that claims they have a vehicle that can do just that. It’s a bit pricey, but man what a machine.

Not too long ago, a very good friend of mine dropped a book in my lap. The book was all about a particular fascination of mine; nose art! On WWII airplanes no less. I have always been fascinated by the airplanes that flew in WWII and the men who flew them. I will probably will never get a chance to ride in one. So I found the next best thing!

If you have never been to an air show, then this bit of interest to me will probably not be of interest to you. But all you need to do is be there when a P-51 Mustang flys close in-board, man, the sound is something that will get your heart thumpin’.

And one last thing. Today’s Hell’s Angels are not the original. There was another group of Hell’s Angels that were bigger and badder than the M/C club we know today. They were the 303rd Bombardment Group (H) “Hell’s Angels” flying out of Molesworth, England during World War II. Here is special history that’s available at the touch of a button. Two thousand two hundred and fifty pages worth of history. Stop in and say “hello” to the 1942 thru 1945 Hell’s Angels.

What is really funny about all this? I found all of this stuff just this week. Over the past couple of months I have learned how to make a model volcano, visited the deep polar ice, flown on the shuttle during take-off, experienced the power of ten, obtained and fixed the recipe for a Weight Watchers 1 point chili, found out what it would be like to be an air traffic controller…

Heck, I’ve even been to the top of Mt. Everest.

Until next week…

And you don’t even have to pump iron to keep it in shape. As Pink Floyd would say, “just keep talking…”!

I had this really elaborate set ready for this day’s blog. Had to put it in the can as a few things happened that may change it’s outcome. More on this later.

However, one large thing that affected my column is the advent of a new BBS type forum on the Expressoriders web site;

(http://expressoriders.org/SMF/).

Do we really have room for another full blown web site that has another forum type that might emulate or maybe copy what is being said and done on the BMWLT (and others) site?

Short answer: YES!

Long answer: Damn straight!

Why? This is about us… the Expresso Riders! It’s about what we do, why we do it and with whom we do it. You may think this is a sappy statement, but I like the people I ride with. The more I ride with them, the more I want to say. “You got a problem with this person, you also have a problem with me!” I care for those I ride with. Fault me on this if you like. But I grow to trust and respect those in the saddle and on the tarmac riding around me. I trust in their knowledge and skills.

Just think; the sharing of information amongst those that want to visit the EXR forums and become a part of this venue looms large in our future. Who knows, it might get just as big as other motorcycle BBS type sites. Then again, if only a few will participate and we loose the expertise of those who we really want to hear from, it could die a horrible death. Personally, I hope we see people we don’t normally see on the BMWLT site. People that ride with us… People that have way more miles under them then I do… People that are just getting into riding or riding with a group that cares about other riders… People that have knowledge about motorcycles, of all kinds… People that like to share… People like the people I ride with…

The forum can’t and won’t be much of anything if we don’t get others involved. I plan on talking it up… exercising my tongue when I get around others. It does not have a fee. It’s totally free. It’s open to all with like minds and hopefully shows the light and caring atmosphere that is the EXR rider type. I hope that one day it reflects how much each and every one of us cares about those riders who like to ride in a group, share their experience and expertise and contains the sum of all of us.

Until next week…

Butterfly groupings have also been called “swarms”, “kaleidoscopes”, and “flutters”.

Just browsing thru my snail-mail here…

Here’s one for selling my timeshare, which I do not own.

Ah, the offer of a new ARM mortgage at 3% for the next five years after which it will increase to 18% and be immediately payable upon the end of year six. NICE…

Something for “Occupant”. Nope, he/she doesn’t live here.

There’s an official looking envelope… says something about “open immediately… time sensitive material enclosed!” Oh look, another solicitation for a mortgage. This one is at 1.5% for the next five years and then it automatically renews for 30 years at 17%. SWEET!

A notice that my Toyota’s extended warranty has expired. Funny… don’t remember getting an extended warranty on my Toyota.

Something for the previous owners of the house. Wait a sec, I bought this place in 1998… and they still get mail here?

Notification for lack of payment of something I don’t want in the first place. Even the envelope looks like the sender is angry with me.

Hand addressed envelope. Return is sort of local… it’s in California anyway. Oh look, they want to sell me a furnace for $75 bucks. That is so nice. Wonder what’s wrong with my existing 5 ton unit, that took a crane to put in place, that I have sitting on the pad next to my house right now? Oh, I see… they want to replace my existing in-home unit. Which I don’t have. Wonder what they would do if… nope… never mind!

Credit card application. Transfer all my other balances to a new low (21.5%) rate card today! Pass…

Another credit card application. This one’s for those people who have recently had to move due to a foreclosure. Guaranteed credit at only 24.8% plus a $125 buck annual fee.

Bill. Only this one is auto-payed. Says right on the return potion “DO NOT PAY”. Still get the paper bill tho.

Another bill. See above.

Cable TV solicitation. Get five friends to sign-up and your fifth month is free.

HOLY CAPOLA! This is just today’s mail. They chopped down thirty-seven trees to tell me that my irritable bowel syndrome is caused by the current government? You have got to be kidding me?

Somebody out there has got to get a clue. I have no idea how to get rid of this mess. You send it back as “not accepted” and they generally get the idea that you live there and double their efforts to plaster you with BS junk mail. I even tried to return it as “Occupant DEAD”. I got a piece of mail advertising rental caskets.

There’s no “DO NOT SPAM ME WITH SNAIL-MAIL” sign up site. Sure, they have several places on-line that advertise a STOP PAPER JUNK MAIL service, just send in your current street or mailing address. Does this sound a little suspect to you? It does to me.

This is nuts. Yes, I recycle. It all gets picked up by my local recycle team. But come on… In one days mail assortment, I counted thirteen bits ‘o’ junk re: my mortgage, eight about my credit accounts or credit cards, three that want to remove those hideous windows in my home for 10 brand new windows installed for free in a typical room (what’s a typical room?) and two asking if I need legal help for any of the following:

• DIVORCE
• BACK TAXES
• ESTATE TAXES
• INVESTMENT OPERATIONS
• ACCIDENT’S or ACCIDENTAL INJURY
• CHILD CUSTODY
• INCORPORATION

So I am asking you… What does a person do to get rid of this crap, this excessive mailer waste created (by the ton mind you) by so called advertising executives (they get paid enormous amounts of money to figure out how to part you from your dollars). It may be called direct marketing by some but for me it just stuffs my mailbox with recycled material on a daily basis. You tell me how to stop this practice and you will become a beautiful butterfly (or a rabble of butterfly’s – your choice) in my mind.

Just get these idiots to stop mailing me this JUNK!

P.S. If you found any of this remotely familiar and said to yourself, “Yeah, I get the same crap”, then this might help:

Privacy Rights

Until next week…