2.25.2004

Update to the motorcycle pages. The tank is back on the bike, so the next step is getting it running. A little fuel line, a little battery charge, some gasoline, and an oil change. I'm putting off swapping the handlebars for now. Might as well get around to riding it first.

Update to the motorcycle pages. The tank is back on the bike, so the next step is getting it running. A little fuel line, a little battery charge, some gasoline, and an oil change. I'm putting off swapping the handlebars for now. Might as well get around to riding it first.

2.24.2004

This has been a REALLY good start to my birthday, despite the White House's attempt to screw things up (more so).

Val and I had Krispy Kreme donuts for breakfast, watched Ellen (and that stupid stupid presidental announcement), went bowling (my birthday wish) and had a little lunch followed by a trip to Starbucks (only because we had a gift card, NOT because we like Starbucks. I do NOT like Starbucks, but I like free!).

The motorcycle is almost ready to be put back together. I need insurance, and helmet, and an oil change, and then I should be ready to go take the test.

2.23.2004

A few new little comments in the words and A/V departments. I think Val and I are going bowling for my birthday tomorrow.

2.22.2004

A little less than 26 hours from now I will turn 31. The last year has taught me a few things about myself.

1] I don't take myself seriously enough. I always thought that it was good to not take yourself seriously, but I have let myself go on for a long time being not very serious, and some of that needs to change. I need to believe in myself and my abilities more, and trust my instincts.

2] I don't keep in touch with those I care about enough. Email is so easy, but I still don't use it often enough.

3] I don't have time to do everything, so I'd better stop trying. This might sound negative, but I really just need to focus my energies on a few projects at a time, instead of A.D.D.-ing around from one unfinished thing to the next.

4] I really do like to cook.

5] My next car will probably be a station wagon.

6] Regular exercise is a really good idea.

7] The sense of accomplishment that comes from fiddling with a motorcycle (and fiddling it right!) has been one of the greatest learning experiences I've ever had.

8] Music is very important to me.

9] Laughter is very important to me.

10] Anger should take up less of my time.

More later...

2.20.2004

Little bit here, little bit there...

There is a post about the Motorcycle Diaries in the words section.

There are ongoing updates to the motorcycle project in the projects section.

There is an empty chat room set up. Eventually I'll have some chat times set up, but for now, might as well get yourself a chat name and be ready for it!

It is a beautiful windy day (67°), so I'm going back outside. More later...

2.10.2004

Ok, things are almost ready. So, for the five or so of you who read this site, I am resculpting it once again, inching closer to the ideal. There will be controversy, there will be hurt feelings, there will be nonsensical ravings. But first, there will be lots of links to click on from the main page, www.doctorhectic.com. The "mine" section is stuff I have done or worked on, the "not mine" section will deal with things I like or dislike enough to write something about, and the "yours" area is all links to other sites, comments, and contact information.

I hope to post updates here, or on the main page, to let you know when I have added something to a particular area of the site. There are some photos, a link to the motorcycle project under "projects", and various test posts to the music, words, and A/V sections. Right now comments will just be via e-mail, but I'll get a more "guestbook" like interface up there soon, so everyone will be free to post there comments and observations, and everyone else will be able to read them.

Enjoy!

2.01.2004

I realized yesterday that while I did start out at a young age as a collector of various things, at some point I became a hoarder. Having a variety of things from the same genre is fine, but I crossed a line somewhere many years ago and ended up with many of the same things from the same genre.

Useful things, like picture frames or magnets, fine. Small, and easily put to use. That's OK.

But when I started having so many CDs that I couldn't keep track of titles that I already owned? Not OK.

Cameras? I have at least a dozen. Each one a different shape or film type, or era. OK.

When I noticed that I had purchased the same set of notecards twice, with out ever opening or using the first set. Not OK.

My Godzilla collection? You KNOW that's OK.



Anyway, I have been looking through boxes of my crap and finding various things I forgot that I had, and wondering why I had amassed such collections of things. I realized it was fear.

Fear of loss is powerful and can cause us to do lots of things. Hoarding is a mild response to fear of loss, at least in most cases. I moved four times before the age of five, lost both of my grandfathers by the age of eight, and had various school friends who moved or died by the time I was 19. Everyone has these experiences, and everyone deals with things differently. I think I started hoarding at a fairly young age in response to my fear of loss.

I'm glad I figured that out, because I'll be moving again this summer, and it'll be a lot easier this time if I can let go of more of this crap I've been hanging on to for so long.

MOTORCYCLE UPDATE

The title is in the mail, on it's way back to me so I can figure out how to transfer it to my name. I was looking around online for cheap and used parts, and I found a headlight visor on eBay for a few bucks. I like the way it mimics the front fender.


I also found a used set of clubman handlebars, to give the lowered profile I'm looking for, but I need to devote more time to that project as it will require removal and repositioning of the brakeline/master cylinder and all of the other assorted wiring on the grips.

I am considering painting the tank and side covers, and I think I might leave the tank on to do it. Eventually, I may be willing and able to PAY for a real paint job. I love Minnesota and the U of M but that maroon and gold stuff has got to go!

This motorcycle project will soon have it's own page here on the site, and I'll probably make it it's own blog so that it'll be easy to post pictures and updates. Slowly, surely, someday, I might even RIDE the thing. Maybe.

I checked out "The Motorcycle Diaries" by Ernesto "Che" Guevara from the local library. It is an interesting read, from an early part of Che's life, but there are things you don't expect to encounter like:

Easter Island! Our imaginations soar, then stop and circle around: 'Over there, having a white "boyfriend" is an honour'; 'You don't have to work, the women do everything - you just eat, sleep and keep them happy.' This wonderful place where the weather is ideal, the women ideal, the food ideal, the work ideal (in its blissful non-existence). Who cares if we stay there a year, who cares about studying, work, family, etc.? In a shop window and enormous lobster winks at us, and from his bed of lettuce his whole body tells us, 'I'm from Easter Island, where the weather is ideal, the women ideal...'


So, this IS the early '50s, and this IS in South America, but it gives you a different look at a young Che, and for anyone who really wants to know anything more about him than what color "his" t-shirts come in, I recommend it.

The motorcyle he used was a Norton 500.

Oh, and Val told me Robert Redford is making a movie based on the book. Should be interesting.