IT WAS WINTER a few weeks ago, wasn’t it? How is it the light’s already going the other way? Here in New England the turnaround happened at 11:31 last night.
The wildflower gardens are off to a slow start. We had such a windy spring it was hard to keep the ground wet enough for seeds to germinate. They’re coming along now. Should start to fill out in the weeks ahead.
We’re enjoying cool summer evenings on the front porch and will soon have two more porches out back. The concrete foundation piers are in the ground. We’re waiting now to see what lumber prices want to do.
The door stays open, cat can go in and out through the doorway as she pleases. Prefers the window.
No solstice adventures for me this year, unlike Steve and Dennis, two of the west coast guys I ran into in the Arctic in 2019. They’re in the air as we speak, flying into Anchorage tonight to get around the border closure. Left their motorcycles home this time, they’ll rent bikes in Alaska.
In Pennsylvania, my friend Will’s getting set to ride the Mid Atlantic Backcountry Discovery Route. It’s mostly off-road between Pennsylvania and the Virginia/North Carolina line. Roughly 2,000 miles down and back.
Pam retired a few weeks ago and has taken over the daycare duties. Little D1D2 wants her Mimi anyway. Nine months of “stinky Tone” in charge was plenty.
In ordinary conversation the little girl works in some of the lines I taught her, like Hey is for horses, Winner winner chicken dinner, and I dig smooth jazz, which she drags out like jaaaaazz. She’ll be the cool girl at school, like her big sister. Who’s learning electric guitar at 6.
Some months ago I was reading D1D2 the story of Strega Nona and the hired help, the none-too-bright Big Anthony. By way of commentary I might have mentioned how I just don’t know about this Big Anthony, he starts up the magic pasta pot, buries the whole town in pasta, what is he, stunad?
Of course the little tape recorder picks it right up. You never know when she might play it back. If Strega Nona’s name comes up she certainly will.
Today was her first visit to the zoo at Roger Williams Park. Here she is hydrating on applesauce at the giraffe enclosure.
As much as Pam loved banking and the people she worked with, and for, she knew, on her 67th birthday, it was time to move on to life’s next chapter. The universe confirmed her choice a few days later when her company mug fell off the kitchen counter and broke into a hundred pieces.
Forty-nine years on I keep rediscovering what an amazing woman she is. She started way behind everybody else after a dozen years of full-time, at-home motherhood. Went out and furthered her education and made a more successful career in banking than I ever thought of having in journalism.
Her superiors were sorry to see her leave. I suspect mine threw a party I wasn’t invited to.
I hadn’t loved the job in a long time when I finally just didn’t go back to work after lunch one day, went riding around the country on a motorcycle instead. But the bride, she had quite the opposite experience. She thrived on her work.
She’s a puzzle solver by nature, and that’s all her job really was, an endless series of puzzles that needed solving. Why is the system doing this when we think we’re asking it to do that?
People would work on something for weeks, give up, drop the Gordian knot from hell on her desk, she loved nothing better. In a morning’s work she’d have the answer.
Here’s an olden-days pic she ran across recently while looking for something else. My friend, the late Peter Lord, one of the funniest people I’ve ever known. All we did was laugh.
This must be late 80s, early 90s. Pete was running one of the news bureaus. He’s looking over my shoulder to read something I had scribbled on the tube.
I’m sure he’s saying right on, and about time somebody said it, and that’s hilarious, and… it’ll never get in the paper.
As of a few hours ago, the GSX R1000 is back up the street at Jessie and Scott’s house. They’ll advertise it for sale one day soon.
I changed oil, sorted out the brakes, mounted new tires, took the bike out for a blast yesterday to scuff-in the factory-smooth tread a bit. Just so an inexperienced rider doesn’t buy the thing and immediately encounter misfortune.
I usually change tires in the driveway, breaking beads with a bottle jack and the weight of the ’49 truck.
My friend Mike Connelly said no need to do things like you’re stuck on the side of the road somewhere, come down to my shop Saturday, swap out the gixxer tires there. So I did.
Pneumatic bead breaker. Takes 30 seconds a tire. And no bottle jack threatening to jump out from under the truck and whack you in the chops.
A proper tub of commercial tire paste… Far superior to dish soap or Windex.
If you don’t get a lot dirty and a little bloody having your fun, you call that a weekend?
After brakes and tires I test rode the bike. Not far, maybe 40 miles. And not fast, never much over 90. This kind of bike is hardly working at 90. I doubt it’s halfway to redline.
I should be able to tell you what it turns at this speed & that but the highway was busy, it was eyes-up riding. I didn’t spend a whole lot of time glancing down at the tach.
A fun bike to ride. Incredible torque available at all times, any speed, any gear. It is what Suzuki designed it to be: a street-legal track bike.
On a technical note: you can’t jack up this kind of bike from underneath. It doesn’t have a cradle frame; nothing there to lift on except exhaust pipes. You need fork and swingarm stands for these race bikes where the motor’s a stressed member of the frame.
I don’t own a set of stands but I do have scaffolding. A few planks across the top, couple of ratchet straps…
In closing, you might recall I put new tires on the iron piggy back when we had snow.
The other day I happened to notice that my new valve stems are badly dry rotted.
Five months in service and they might as well be a dozen years old.
Next weekend I’ll be down at Mike’s again, taking my own wheels apart.
It’s a PITA to have to spoon new tires off the wheels just to install valve stems, but motorcycling is risky enough as it is. Rapid tire deflation at speed, anyone?
Nah, I’m good, but thanks for thinking of me.
Tony DePaul, June 21, 2021, Cranston, Rhode Island, USA
My congrats to Pam on her retirement, just in time to enjoy the beautiful wildflower gardens and weather. That Suzuki looks, to use a popular adjective from my day, spiffy. From the photo of your hand, I hope you’ve had a Tetanus shot.
They’re trying to get her back already! Offered her 30 hours next month as a consultant.
Time keeps on slipping, slippin’, slippin’ into the future.
Nobody knows what it’s all about, it’s too much, man, let it all hang out.
Congratulations to our dear friend Pam on her well-deserved retirement. I’ve joined her ranking, I also retired a week ago but had to go in for the 2nd hernia repair. When we have a chance, we’ll certainly visit the DePauls, it has been a long time.
Tony, thanks for the good work.
Dominic
Dominic! We have to go ride motorcycles in Vietnam, man.
Love to Thuy and the family.
Something circulating the undercurrents of the web about a batch of sub-sub par chinesium valve stems out in the world. All hush hush and like. Had the same sorts of longest day thoughts this weekend! I think Pam’s a keeper. Thanks for the update.
Has an unusual intelligence for sure. She would have been a great engineer, rocket scientist or FBI agent, financial crimes unit. Has an uncanny focus on discerning a trail others can’t see, following little micro bits of information off into the distance.
But leaves her keys in the door! And everything in the fridge that has a cap? Pick it up from the top and it’ll crash to the floor at your feet.
Anyway, she’s left the refrigerator door open. And will try to answer her phone when she hears the open-door chime going off.
Could go on & on…
If those are my worst qualities….winner, winner, chicken dinner!😂
Meanwhile, back in Bangor, I know an editor who was sorry to see you go.
Yeah but all the others threw stuff at the guy when he said so.
Holy Crap, you and The Dude have twin hands!!! Being a fridge mechanic and dabbler in anything that could be gritty, grotty, oily or generally filthy, the Dude has never had hands to be proud of rather he has hands that display all the wear and tear of a well used set of garage tools and his dirtiness and happiness are directly proportional! Ripped nails with grease under them, dirt embedded in every crease and cranny, scars and scabs and always blood, lots of blood! His and my idea of fun are so opposing that they actually reinforce the old “Men are from Mars, women are from Venus” theory. Pottering in the garden followed by a bubble bath with candles and a good book and cup of tea is my idea of a good time, the guy who said opposites attract was on to something!
Hope you and family stay well and safe, cheers
Ha! The Dude is a fortunate man. Where you live he can get as grubby as he pleases and then go surfing to rinse off. He could wipe out on purpose just for the sandblasting effect, much like a full body wash in Lava hand soap. I’ve done it. That pumice really works. Mostly by removing the skin under the dirt.
You got him nailed! He had a skin cancer removed and can’t surf for 6 weeks, feeling very sad and sorry for himself! Worst aspect is that there have been great waves every day.
Tony: Gorgeous photos of wildflowers! Part of the fun of reading Nickels is the photography. You’ll probably claim that you just point and click, but seeing and finding the vistas and taking them well is an art.
Hi, Robert. Thanks for reading. It’s true, I have no idea what I’m doing. The iPhone does what it does. I don’t crop or color-adjust anything.
I’ll post a few more pics of the gardens when they fill out. They’re really just getting started.
As always you impress with your writing but the voice recording of stunad stole the show for me. I listened to it 3 times and it made me laugh each time. She is a little cutie.
We have that on video, too. She’s a funny girl. And knows she’s funny. And is always figuring out new ways to be funny.
Glad to hear you survived the test ride. And that you are taking care of your own ride.
Nothing new here, we are out on Shelter Island for the summer. So far so good.
Best to you and Pam
Sounds like a lovely spot, Jon. Are you there straight through to Labor Day or back to Boston on occasion? Feel free to stop and see us anytime. We’re always here now. Both always here now.
Hi to Anita!
Good to hear that you’re still around and staying active. Using the hydraulic jack to change tires brings back memories. Not good memories – something always seemed to slide, jump, shoot out, leak, or fail in one or more sometimes dangerous ways.
No idea about the valve stems – old stock? Chemicals of some kind?
Lifting the bike with ratchet straps (or a chain fall) is always fun. Someone is always tempted to sit on it while hoisted. And it moves away from you when you start working on it. It does allow you to get the bike at just the right height for whatever it is you’re doing. It’s the getting it back down slowly that one time got the better of me.
Several times we used the lift at a garage – raise the lift, tie the bike to it, raise the lift some more.
Dennis
Ha! So true. I did remember to crack all the fasteners loose before lifting the bike. Axles, front calipers…
I have no idea how the stems could degrade so quickly. Kind of alarming. If this particular vendor sold stems for, you know, wheelbarrows, I suppose that would be all right.
Loosen the bolts before raising the bike? Great tip.
Good one Tone! You and that retired bride of yours go have some fun together!
We’re going to have to figure that one out. Trouble is, her idea of fun is fancy restaurants, which I enjoy about as much as a colonoscopy. All I can think about: this meal is costing us 10X too much and the chef isn’t half the cook you are, babe.
T knows I don’t expect him to go to restaurants, that is what girlfriends are for. I definitely want to see more of this country but not on a motorcycle. Flying in to different spots works better for me, or using Jenna and Jonny’s van to help them have longer vacations in the west when we drive the van out. We will definitely figure it out! Don’t let him fool you! 😂
I love that pic of you at the journal. I can see Jen in your expression.
Jen’s a mix of all four sides, isn’t she? She’s got the Smiths, the Willbankses, the DePauls, the Vallerios…
Steve, Dennis, and Bruce are indeed winging their way to Anchorage. Those of us with more time, Doug and I, are 2 weeks into a 6000-mile loop thru the western states. Unfortunately, I hit a deer last week at 65 mph just outside Durango, CO. I survived with a bruised right leg and foot but Bambi wasn’t so lucky. She was killed instantly. Due to blind luck I did not crash and the V-Strom escaped with mostly cosmetic damage. We chased electric glitches for several days and finally got it to stop blowing fuses.
Running great now albeit without most accessories. Be safe out there. I didn’t even see the deer before she hit. I can give you a good price on (17) 30 amp fuses.
Whoa! That’s news! Deerstrike at speed and rode it to a stop. Hats off to you, Robert.
Hello to Doug.
What time of day did you hit the deer?
Mid-day
Aha. We all learned that dusk is the danger hour but really it’s every hour. None of my close encounters have been at dusk.
I was checking the other day to see if I had missed some scribblings. Good to see you’re staying active! We’re supposed to be set free here in Alberta on July 1! But no traveling south into the USA just yet. So more exploring locally to see what I’ve been missing all these years. Safe travels on the Iron Piggy!
Things have been opened up here for a while, Bill. No masks required. Except today at the zoo, when we toured the monkey house. Masks were required there to protect the little primates from we bigger primates.
Good to hear from you, Tony. Nothing to report from Huge-town. Crazy governor and oppressive heat… same as it ever was. Cheers, mate.
Pam’s sister was here last week, enjoyed dinners on the porch in this cool, misty New England June we’ve had so far. Then she flew home to Hades, which some insist on calling Yuma, Arizona.
I had such a great time with you all and miss the misty mornings and cool walks on the beach in Narragansett!!
Next time in Yuma! When things start to cool off in… November?