Chat Party!

I had never been to a chat party until last night. That's kind of weird actually--Partly because I have been chatting on Yahoo of and on for several years, and partly because I have a hard time passing up a party invitation. I guess the planets aligned this time.

I wasn't going to go because it was all the way up in Everett, but then I got to thinking, "Hey, Everett isn't far... Jeez..." The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to go and meet these people. I decided that a blast on the Harley was just what I needed, so I checked the weather: Cloudy with a chance of showers was good enough for me.

Yesterday morning I amazed myself by actually getting dressed and going out grocery shopping. I have a bad habit of staying naked all morning (sometimes all day) and not getting much done. I was very low on lots of pantry things, so I decided to blast out and beat the usual Saturday crowds. It worked out well. One of the items I bought was a huge beef roast that I'm going to put into the crock pot today. Yum! After I got back, I put all my groceries away then ran back out to McDonald's and grabbed a couple of their "Two for $2" egg McMuffins. When I got back, I stripped back down to my comfort level once again (I can't help it).

I still had the passenger seat on it from Thursday night when I took a friend to a biker bar out in Cumberland for their Taco Thursday event, so I wanted to take that off and put it back in "solo" mode. Also, because the battery on the Harley is on its last legs, I had to charge it so it was ready by the time I was ready to leave. Anyway, I went out to the garage (duh, of course I was still naked) and changed the seat and put the charger on.

At 6:00 it was getting close to time to go and I was starving again, so rather than make something I opted to drive to Wendy's in the car before I left. I didn't want to do any drinking on an empty stomach, nor did I have any idea what they had to eat at the bar. After I tanked up my stomach, I drove back home, changed into my riding duds, and put the seat back on the Harley (the battery is under the seat). I left at about 6:45 or so.

It was a great ride even if it was all freeway. I guess the reason was that I was comfortable, and I had the carpool lanes working in my favor. I made the 50-mile trip in about 45 minutes. The party was slated to start at 7:00, so I was just barely even "fashionably late." I did a couple loops around the place to assess the parking situation, then ended up parking my bike in a perfect spot right out in front of the main window.

It's weird walking into a party that is made up of chat members because chances are you don't know what anybody looks like. It's weird. As I walked in, a couple gals were there near the bar ordering their drinks and I overheard, "So who would that be? Gray?" Grayhaird is my Yahoo chat name. That's basically how it went. People would walk up and say, "Hi, I'm GNS, or hi, I'm Missi, or hi, I'm SeaBreeze" etc. Nobody used their "real" names. It was a lot of fun.

The party actually took place at a sort of outdoor addition that they had built onto the bar. There was a nice thing out there with a bunch of furniture and mood lighting, and had sort of a tropical flavor to it. Also, because most of the chatters were smokers, it enabled everyone to be able to smoke as they saw fit. There were people there from the Everett area, Spokane, Tri-Cities, and down around my area as well. All in all, I'd say about 25 people or so showed up. The coolest thing was that everybody was very uninhibited and loose. We were all adults and all fun-loving. Because we had all done all the suggestive chatting that people do, it was like we sort of already knew each other's personality a bit. It was cool. A lot of playful ass-grabbing and stuff. I must say, it was the most hugging and touching I've ever seen a bunch of strangers do at a party. I loved it. Lots and lots of pictures were being taken too, so I'm curious as to how those will turn out. One guy, Junkyard Dog (we call him JYD) rode his bike all the way from Spokane, and as he got into town there in Everett, his throttle cable broke. I hope everything works out okay for him getting it back on the road for his 6-hour ride home. It looks like it's going to be a soggy ride too.

I kept my drinking in moderation, and said my goodbyes at 11:30. I went out to the bike, unlocked it, and sat down. I turned the key on and hit the starter button. It groaned once and clicked. Dammit! Harley's haven't had kick start levers on them for a couple decades so kick-starting it wasn't an option. After sitting there for a bit, I tried it again. It would "almost" start, but I was lucky to even get half an engine revolution out of it. Finally I gave up and pushed it around the corner into their parking lot alongside of the building and went all the way to the back to where the alley intersected with it. Their parking lot had a slope down to the street so I figured I could "bump-start" it. I gave it a shot, but didn't quite get it. I pushed it back up to try again, and this time a nice older guy named Roger who was out having a cigarette gave me a push. I got a lot more speed that time and it fired right up. Thanks Roger, wherever you are. I owe you one.

It was an excellent night to blast back home on a midnight ride. The night was clear, and I was riding toward a bright half moon lighting the sky. The city of Seattle looked awesome, but riding at night at 75mph with a good buzz on requires a little more focus than is allowed for just looking around admiring the lights and sights. Still, I was able to enjoy it--After all, unlike a car I have an unobstructed view . The air in the face while you're on a Harley really helps you keep clarity when you're riding under the influence too. I guess that's why I have so much fun with it.

On the way home I got to test my new fuel petcock. About halfway home the engine started to sputter, so I reached down and slid it over to the "reserve" setting. The engine immediately caught and smoothed out again as gas resumed feeding it. I didn't want to stop for gas on the way home just in case it refused to start again. I knew I had plenty of gas left in the "reserve" portion to get me home, and of course I did arrive with no problem at about 12:30. I shined a flashlight into the gas tanks and there was still gas in there. I would venture a guess that I could probably get about 40 miles or so out of it on reserve.

All in all, it was an excellent night. Now I'm up and only had a very mild hangover which is already gone. I wonder how long it will be before the rest of them show up online? Noon?