mrzip66

Taking a sleeping bag and a tent on this little outing in a couple of days, and so I figgered I’d need something to hook a couple of bungee straps to.

Got this little beauty on Amazon, I can’t remember who from but it was a third the cost of the dealership. You could hook a bungee to how much that puts a smile on my face.

3 more days, and we ride.

6 more days and I head out. Can’t wait. I may bomb out earlier and milk an extra day out of if. who knows.

Viking bags hit me up. I’ve bought some of their gear in the past and have been fairly happy with it. It’s usually at least 1/2 the price of the MOCO (at least) and their gear has been pretty solid. I’m going to be trying out and reviewing their 18L – Century Medium Leather Motorcycle Sissy Bar Bag for Harley Davidson. Which looks like a decent bag for shorter trips or overnighters. We’ll see. I’ll make a future post about it.

You can check their Motorcycle Luggage Bags Here.

I feel a little Metallica coming on:

The problem with having to wait for a long ride is…. the fucking having to wait for a long ride.

I’m jonesing to go.

I did however, but me some new baubles for the bike. The bike I swore I would keep stock.

A new Pair of Grips never hurt anyone. Big Kahunas they call em. I just liked how they looked.

And after several thousands of miles of fishing chap stick out of my pocket at 80 mph, I got me a chap stick holder. I’m sure you can put other things in there: I just haven’t thought beyond chap stick. I’m sure i’ll think of something.

Gah, how many more days? 9?

I’m ready to ride.

Was able to throw down a few hundred miles today, which is always good. Missus Zip threw me a bit of a hall pass Friday, so I jumped on the chance to make a few miles. To be honest, when you need to get a little saddle time she knows I’ll go with or without a hall pass, but I always enjoy the ride a little more knowing you’re not gonna come home to any size of marital hornets nest.

My business partner and his family had been camping up on the Mogollon rim, which is the forested and northern side of the state so I ran up to say hello.

Arizona I swear has the best named places in any place on the planet. Happy Jack is a killer song by the Who, and is also one of the best riding areas in the State. It’s around 7500 feet of elevation, and up in the Ponderosa pines. Its beautiful. The weather was 75 degress and you couldn’t wipe the smile off my face.

I ran to Happy Jack, shot the bull with everyone for a few hours, then doubled back and ran through the Tonto basin, which is always a great ride.

1 day, 350 miles, 1 State.

Little wing.

Hendrix pioneered it. Stevie Ray owned it.

Holy cow I love this song.

This is what happens when you find what you love, and then you just put the work in.

If you research the story of Stevie Ray, he definitely put the work in.

Man, what a beautiful song.

I saw this in the theater 6 times. I bought it the day it came out. i’ve tried to give this a little time to season, but it keeps coming out strong to me. I love Top Gun Maverick. Just re-watched it, and the love is still there.

You know how much I love Easy Rider. This one though? i Love the patriotism, the message and the fact that a over 60 Tom Cruise is making a stellar nod to the past and made the 1 movie sequel that I actually think was better than the original (which was great too).

I’m a fan. What a great flick!

My father used to like to say: “its important to be involved with something bigger than yourself”

I think that is absolutely true.

I’m fired up about the future. It’s sure been a while.

Man, I love the Who. They have just seemed to deliver over the years.

Compare it to songs they made 30 to 50 years ago. Roger Daltry hasn’t lost his voice; and Townshend can still write a jammin’ song.

I’ve been hitting repeat all weekend.

So good.

Things are coming full circle for me; I thought I’d share it with you.

First off, I’ve kind of documented the fall of my business in my blog. I’m not going to hash all that out again, but to be brief I’ve been self employed most of my life. I’ve had businesses where its just been me, to anywhere from 5 to 100 employees. It all crashed and burned about 12 years ago, and since that time I’ve been licking my wounds, paying back debt as much as I was able to, and quite frankly working for other people.

Since then I’ve had 4 jobs, all having to do with either the Internet or Information technology. Working for other people is great in some ways, but toward the end I just kind of hit the wall.

I interviewed for a fairly good and high paying job here about 3 months ago, and I’m working for a company now that is great to work for (not gonna mention names), but much of your life when you’re a) ambitious and b)Working for the man is looking for some sort of approval. Living under someone elses vision or what is good for the business, and what isn’t, etc.

Anyway, after I nailed that last interview I realized I didn’t want the job, and turned it down. I had an epiphany; I decided I wasn’t going to spend the rest of my life needing the approval of anyone but a customer. I’m extremely capable of doing that well. I decided I was going to start my own business again. I’d hit up a guy here in Queen Creek and we’re starting a computer repair/IT Business here. I’ve done it before, and I’ll do it again. I have no doubts we’ll make this work.

Anyhoo, thats where my life has been. I’m extremely fired up about it. I’m transitioning out of my job I’m at now so they can train and fill my positioning, but in a little over a month the flag drops and all the fun begins.

I’m beyond fired up. I should have done this a long time ago.