Shelbs Part Deux....

Almost all the books. BUT, there is a shipment on the way, so I need to get building.

Shelbs....

I can say that now that they are done...that they were hella tough. The design simple, the scene turned out to be not flat, level, even, or anything I had hoped for. That just makes it look all the more rustic.

I suck with a skil saw, period. It wasnt til my final 2 cuts that I got one that was good. But it didnt matter bc the board was bowed.
Bursting with character!

The Ramblin' Cafe....

The other day I went to this cafe to get some breaky with John. We walked in and John immediatly commented on the "gringo killing green chile". Heres what I noticed about the place in order of observation:

1. the guy taking my order was stout, black shirt with 'fight' and 'gym' on it.
2. after sitting down, the tv in the corner was showing back to back UFC fights
3. the wall to my left was covered in framed photos of wrestling and jujitsu competitions
4. the green chile on my huevos rancheros nearly killed me. Tears, heavy breathing, constant consumption of water and sweating, due to the massive increase in body temperature, which caused the sweating, as well as some loss of balance, blurred vision, watery eyes, trouble focusing, sweating, and immediate need to be near the vininity of a toilet for the next 4 hours, and some more sweating.

Fact of the matter is that it tasted REALLY good and I feel the need to make it back there for some scientific consumptive inquiries....

Life after Shaving....

After the pizza disaster I needed to have a fresh start, something that reflected my new mood in the presence of all this sunshine and mild weather. I was also getting a bit tired of my vision being framed by hair. Everywhere I looked it was surrounded by hair, thankful theyre not the short and curlies.... It was officially the time for the annual beard chopping event: an event to try and carve something or as many things as possible out of the singular entity that was once know as 'beard'.

Today I have decided to go with a more classic approach and usually the first step of growing 'beard'. The goatee has a long and broad history, all of which Im going to skip here. This particular goatee is useful in many ways, like yesterday, where it performed exceedingly well as a breathing filter while dirtbiking in 65-70 degree weather, in the sand, where tis very dusty. Now realize that yesterday I was sporting 'full beard', the goatee was still there just "in with the crowd", if you will.

But theres more to life after shaving than meets the eye. Most of which, again, happened earlier this week, so as to be not fulfilling the requirement of "after shaving", I put it here anyway. Lets talk about raft preparations.

Maravia is a piece of shit. Nothing is standardized and for a urethane encapsulated pvc boat you would think it shoud be burly, but amazingly its not. Every floor in every maravia is fucked. Leaky. Crinkled. Broken. If your thinking "but MY floor is fine", well you dont have much time before youre going to have to send that thing back because they need it to MATCH THE GROMMETS to the boat. As I said before, no standardization. Dumb. At least its fairly easy to lace.

_______ Gone Wrong....

Last night after working on the shelves and some boats and prepping some gear for todays bike ride I decided that food was becoming a priority. 9:30 pm pizza goes in oven. 1:44 am I wake up on the couch.

At First....

Wilbur Smith Rocks....

So I finally finished my most recent Smith novel, The Sun God, and wow was I blown away by the ending. In fact the entire book had me in suspense and in amazing graphic detail. Just the way Wilbur can do it, and Im not sure who else can.

I decided to make a List of the Wilbur Smith books Ive read and suggest them as fantastic historical fiction:

River God

Birds of Prey*
Monsoon*
Blue Horizon*
When the Lion Feeds
The Sun God

* Denotes awesome maritime warfare series!

Amazing books, way better than any TV. Better go get me some more.

Hi-Volts....

High Voltage Cable Inspection
by monnotman

Suck UK....

Go here and be amazed....

Motorado....

Let me start from the beginning.....
I was at the post office mailing and faxing some stuff for a sweet federal job when I got into some conversation with the post owner who recommended I go to this motorcycle group meeting in eldo. I went. Astounded. Kona went too. Turns out theres a group of 60 some people that are mostly GS owners and touring riders have organised to keep the fun rolling in style. Theres dirt riders, street riders and lots of dual sporters. Pretty much the coolest group of people I almost didnt meet.

Let me explain.

After running some errands I got back home and cracked a couple beers with my neighbor. The meeting was starting soon and I was thinking about whether I shouldnt go bc I smelled of beer and how so many nazis live near by and the attitude I get trying to wave a hello at them and so forth.... I went anyways. As Im walking into the community center I see multiple Ducati jackets, and what more inviting is the fact that almost everyone has a bottle...and chips. Home!
I struck friends immediately and talked about future plans of the TAT and custom mapping for those custom touring trips and dirt biking on the mesa. Im sold, and planning on having a wrenching party in the garage soon, though Im sure my yz's and kz dont impress like the guy who has about 17 bikes, I do infact have a kegerator!

Let the ride begin!

2 Fails 1 Video....

Hahahahahalolwarblegarble....

A New Member to the Family.... "The Fat Baby"

Wow!

Patio-Stylies....

Even though its way below freezing doesnt mean the end of gardening season...you just need a jackhammer to get through the frost layer...biblically, and literally.

Bagel-Tight!,,,,

So I got back from a holiday in NE, walked in the door to the place in Santa Fe, and said...Im baking something. In my search for bread recipes I ran across some bagel recipes and knowing that I enjoy bagels decided to give it a swing. I mean how often do you get the chance to boil your goods before you bake them? Alas, my high altitude flat bagels:



Although some are flat (most) the flavor is fantastic. But they are fugly....

Lets Start Over....

Now that I think about it, I cant put all my new favorite movies into a list. More of a lump sum really. Minus the sum part.

The new addition to the lump is The Worlds Fastest Indian. Awesome and hilarious. But most of all its just really good!

Watch it.

Another "Spit My Coffee Out" Moment....

Best of 2008....

Movies. Love em.

Sure, Batman was good, but only bc of Heath Ledger. Im giving the #2 slot to Appaloosa. I love a good western, and with the bad guy (?) fitting the role perfect, Viggo Mortensen and his 8 Gauge shotgun, which is unbelievable, and the setting in NM ,making a perfect combination. Awesome.

Tied for #2: Taken. Not released in the US. Absolutely fantastic. Speechless.

#1 goes to Gran Torino. I laughed hard the entire movie, and deemed how I want to be that crotchety old man later in life. So crotchety infact the language is astounding. Theres no F-bombs or anything like that, just good 'ol racial slurs, more than I can think of in a single sitting. Clint Eastwood IS the role. And crotchety. With a sweet car.