Little Black Sambo

    No, I am not a racist, I am only telling a children's story that was popular when I was a child.
Of course I can not quote the story word for word but from memory I can give you a brief condensed version that will get the point accross.
    Once upon a time there was a child who lived in a land far away, named Little Black Sambo.
One day Little Black Sambo's Mother dressed him up in all his best fine clothes. You know, all the usual stuff. Umbrella, vest, shoes, the whole works. Then she told him,  "You just go and have a good day now, You hear?"
    So, off he goes, hiking through the jungle all dressed up in his best finery. As the story goes, Little Black Sambo encounters a tiger who happens to be hungry, as tigers are.

The tiger says to Little black Sambo, You know, I am pretty hungry, but if you give me your fine umbrella, I just might not eat you. Well sure, Little Black Sambo is a smart child and says to himself, " Self, it is better to give up apparel than to be eaten. 

    And so the story goes. This child is wandering around in a dangerous jungle filled with preditors and continues to encounter hungry tigers, who can be temporairily satisfied with a vest or a\ pair of shoes and so forth

     Eventually though, He runs out of enticing clothes and soon the tigers say,  "You know, I really like having an umbrella, or whatever, but I am still hungry".

     So, the tigers get together and find Little Black Sambo, and tell him, "Your clothes and things are not enough and we are still going to eat you.

    It was about this point, that Little Black Sambo says "my only remaning defense is to run" and he did.

Around a tree he ran in continueing circles so fast the the chasing tigers melted into tiger butter, at which time

he gathered up his clothes and went home to tell his Mama. She said, "We will have pankakes with tiger butter and they all lived happily ever after.

     You ever notice how childrens stories always end with "Happily Ever After"?

Any way, the whole point is that Little Black Sambo was a human child and did not have a tail.

Recently one of our cats gave us some much needed additions, and 3 of them were tiger colored and one was tiny and black, born with a tail. The large black one in the corner is not one of the litter, but just a visitor.

Needless to say the tiny black kitten is now Sambo and the other three are named tiger 1, 2, and3.

Y'all have a good day now you hear?

     My Goodness it has been a very long time since I updated this blog. The last time I had any thing to say was when I first got the new Goldwing.
     Anyway, since that time the Goldwing has carried me to, Enid Oklahoma. My wife and I rode it to Pueblo Colorado. I made a trip to California, and also to South Padre Island. Some time later in the day I will exceed 23,000 miles ridden on that machine. I still love it. Planning a trip to Odessa Texas in the near future, and the major trip will be a year from now when I ride the thing to Alaska. My jaws will probably ache by the time I get back from smiling so much.

2012 Goldwing

Well, there is no other way to say it than the 2012 Honda Goldwing is the ultimate motorcycle. Sharon says it is a car without the shell and she is right. Just to name a few features, Navigation system, heated grips, heated seats, surround sound stereo featuring AM, FM, XM Sirus, and auxillary flash drive connectivity that lets me carry my whole collection with me. Automatic volume control that increases volume as RPMS increase. What's the word of currant times? Awesome!!!  Did some one say "Heated Seats?" Actually on maximum setting they will make you squirm. They get too warm. Heated Grips? Very nice but the backs of your fingers and hands still get cold. Maybe I need to tell Honda to enclose the handle bar grips to keep the heat around the hands, but still, very nice. Navigation system, on a motorcycle no less? There is a large screen under the speedometer that shows location, direction currant address and not only that, but it talks to you. Even if I turn it off, there is a neat 3" compass that shows up in it's place.
     Foot vents? Well you know it.
There is a lever to slide that allows air warmed from the engine to pass over your feet and ankles. That could stand a little improving, but when I tested them it was 26 degrees out. Maybe to give it a true test I should wait for another 26 degree day and make the same ride without the heated vents on my feet.
    Adjustable windshield? Of course!!  It can be raised as much as 4". Sure, there is a air vent in the windshield. Digital odometer? Natureally. Time, tempeture, and miles traveled? Adjustable rear shocks for passenger or a load? Why even ask. Not only that but a pre-set memo switch to quickly change from one to the other. Tire pressure monitors? CB radio capibility? Headlight adjustment while riding? 200+ miles per tank. Electric cruise control. Pockets or compartments every where. A horn louder than most car horns.
     One of the key words in it's description is "Touring". I keep telling Sharon, "We need to plan a trip somewhere, anywhere, and the only requirement is two tanks of gas out, two tanks back, plus one to run around on. That means at least 400 miles away, At least one nights stay. I think I can convince her to do it if
I include a PBR event. Heated Seats? Yeah, I know, I covered that. Except it is necessary to mention, "Individual Controls." Can you say Amen, Brothers and sisters?
    I LOVE IT!!! I don't know if it has features I left out, Probably does. Like my little Brother says, " Looks like that thing could fly to mars."
     Well, give me an address and a couple of warm days and we will see.
   Ok You want to see it.

Apparentlly I don't have a picture in my file but you can see what I mentioned at Honda.com     . On that site go to touring motercycles,  Sooner or later if you choose blue  color you will see what I recieved with 8 miles on the odometer.

ride video

How about a little ride video. It was difficult to hold the camera still at the end of a tripod, but you get the idea.

So, Sharon and I took a little ride to California on the motorcycles and I had a really nice ride.
We went for my parents celebration of 60 years married to each other.

Sharon got pretty tired but we did not have any trouble. It did get a little cold at times.
The leather clothes helped to cut the wind.

Today is a good one!

Well, it really was a good day. I mentioned several times that I thought I needed new tires for my motorcycle, and we decided to do it before the trip and not have to be bothered with it on the road.
     We left here at 6:30 am and rode our motorcycles to Amarillo. Once there we left my bike at the shop and rode to have breakfast at the Cracker Barrel. Then we went to a HarleyDavidson dealer and Sharon got some kind of hair holder. Then we went to the Tri-State Fair. We had free tickets because we had some of our stuff on exhibit.

       Remember the afghan?
Yup. First Place. Remember the Shirt, (number two)? Second place on that one.
Also a first place ribbon on another scarf.
    Then we picked up my bike and we came home. On the west side of the city of Amarillo there are a bunch of cadillacs buried front end down. Every one stops by these cars and goes out to them for pictures, which Sharon and I have done in the past.
     On the east side of town there is another group of cars also buried in similar fashion. Needless to say, we stopped for pictures.

Then to Braums for a burger and hot fudge sundae, and then home.
270 miles and some cheap thrills. Yup, a good day.

Shirt number two

Well, here it is. The second shirt so far and it turned out alright. I don't know if I will continue making shirts or not. Depends on Materials that I find. The selection of fabric stores is very limited here.

New Shirt

Well, Folks, I said I would make a shirt and did. The material was about the only choice at the time for some thing that could be considered masculine.
    It started last month when I made a sissy bar for Sharon's bike and then decided to make a pad for the sissy bar. So we bought me a little sewing machine but not knowing much about the machine, I decided to make a shirt to become familier with the machine. So we got a McCalls pattern and some pepper material, and I proceeded. I did not speak Pattern language so Sharon translated the language into understandable Redneck. She gave me some pointers but I did the sewing, and lo, and behold, a shirt came out of it.
     Counting the cost of the machine, pattern, thread, and material, the shirt wound up costing about 100 dollars. If I do more then the cost will come down, but it is not cheap to make your own clothes.

     Let's see if I can show you a picture.
Yup. There it is. Sharon calls it "Busy".