...from memory, so it may not be exact; but it's approximately what happened here last night. Heh.
I went to bed at 11 PM, still feeling pooped; but I couldn't sleep. After tossing and turning for an hour I got up; and after a few minutes' thought I put on socks and jeans and shoes, and went out for a ride.
I was out perhaps ten minutes when I realized I need a better jacket on so I came home and put on Dad's suede jacket that I kept, which blocked the wind very well. After that I was fine; so I rode until I realized that I was losing my ability to focus due to fatigue.
Let's face it: novice rider, here. When you're learning how to do something, it wears you out.
But I rode up to Sauk Trail, and I rode down to Crete-Monee road, and out to the high school, and out to that road I never did learn the name of that goes south from Exchange street through corn fields.
Part of the problem, though, was that I really need a proper pair of riding gloves. The gloves I'm using right now are mechanic's gloves; and they've been saturated in motor oil. Before the riding course I washed them with Dawn dish detergent, which got most of the oil out, so they don't feel greasy; but there's still oil in them and it smeared all over the helmet visor. So I know I need to buy some gloves.
There were almost no cars on the roads, so it was good practice for me.
Heh.
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Okay, just having returned from errands--and having to wait for my insurance agent to have Internet access again so I can get my new bike insured--I'm going to blog for a big before doing anything else.
Registering any new vehicle is expensive. To get the motorcycle titled and registered in my name I had to pay half what I paid for the bike, all told. Shit.
Tax was $25; I paid the currency exchange more ($39) than I paid the State of Illinois for the sales tax. But the title transfer and such was $134. Crapzor.
But! Now it's 100% legal, or will be once I get the insurance taken care of. Og said he paid $9 per month for insurance on the bike; I'd wager he had liability-only where I've got comp and collision on mine, which is why it's $12 more than his.
I also bought three quarts of 10w-40 so I can change the bike's oil. It's what I always do when I get a new vehicle regardless of who owned it before I did. ...but fuck oil has gone up in price. $5 per quart is the new average, and if you want synthetic it's $9. By buying the house brand I got out of the store for $4 per quart, though. I don't mind "house brand" as long as it "meets or exceeds" the current industry standard specification, and I have yet to see a motor oil for sale that didn't.
"I only use XX"--that's a Ford/Chevy (or Honda/Toyota, or Mac/PC) debate, right there.
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Al Gore desperately clings to a theory which has been all but proven wrong and plans to have a "Bore-a-Thon"--
Ooh, sorry, "Gore-a-Thon". He's not calling it either, though, so I suppose I can say "Bore-a-Thon" and not be wrong. Gore himself calls it "24 hours of reality" but it's not that, either; it's 24 hours of bullshit science and invented data.
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Michelle Malkin gets credit for "President Rerun". Another great nickname for Boss Tweek!
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Instapundit discusses Krugman's fantastically lefty screed on 9/11 and peoples' reaction to it.
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Well, it's been about 45 minutes since I left the insurance office; I wonder if they've got Internet access yet?