Happy Friday the 13th

It looks to be a pretty good day at this point. It started off well mainly because I didn't have to wake with my alarm clock this morning. I have the day off, Suzie has the day off, and we're about to embark on a weekender on the Harley. Maybe I should go buy a few lotto tickets to test the superstition!

Taking a trip on a motorcycle is not easy from a luggage standpoint. With a car trip you have almost unlimited space, and with air travel you're allowed an awful lot of space as well. With a motorcycle you're not so well off. Even when traveling alone on a motorcycle it's tough to cram all your stuff on board. Add a passenger and you add twice as much need for space. I spent a while out in the garage last night trying to figure things out and had a little success, but won't really know until Suzie gets here and we start cramming. When you break it down into categories you see where the problems can arise. Tools & supplies for the Harley, footwear, clothing, toiletries, laptop computer (hey, it's the 21st century!) and cameras--Those are the main things. The saddlebags that stay on the Harley don't hold as much as you'd think they would. I added a tool bag onto the back to put stuff in, and that will also help support the bottom of the luggage bag we'll be strapping on and help hold it up off the license plate and tail light. What I should have done (and meant to ages ago) was build a small, detachable rack to go on the back. I'll still keep that on the "to do" list. I also gave it an oil change and washed it. I didn't wash it to make it look nice, but to "de-bug" the windshield from our last outing.

All things considered, I thought that this cartoon was appropriate:


I had a little thing happen to me on the way to work yesterday morning that I found a little odd. I had this desire for a Breakfast Jack from Jack in the Box, so I cruised by there and was pleasantly surprised to find only one car in the drive-up line. I placed my order, and drove forward after hearing the, "Thank you, $1.08 at the window." When he handed me the bag and I paid him with a dollar and a dime, he asked, "Do you want the pennies?"

Say what?

Although at the time I answered no (they just end up on the floor somewhere anyway), the more I thought about it on the way to work, the more it disturbed me. Have we gotten to the point that we so thrive on convenience that accepting our deserved change is something we may not even want to deal with? Imagine it from the restaurant's perspective--That could translate into millions of dollars of free revenue! If all the employees at all the restaurants all over the world asked every customer that and even 1 out of 5 declined their change, that's still huge. The funny thing is, when I got to work and opened the bag, I had my Breakfast Jack in there, but in addition found a sandwich called an Extreme Sausage. I tried it, but didn't really care for it, but at the same time couldn't help but think, so much for their profit from my 2 cents.

This morning I looked out my little window in the entry that points toward the street and saw a shopping cart sitting out there at the edge of the road in front of my car. I chuckled to myself. The Fred Meyer store that's just across the street has signs posted all over warning shoppers that the carts have devices on them that will render the wheels unable to turn if they leave the perimeter of their property. Come on... It doesn't take a genius to see that there is no device anywhere on those carts. They're the same old crappy wheels they've always had. Apparently, they're playing the odds like Jack in the Box by putting signs up:

If it works on even 1 out of 5...