Allright... so it's been a while. Sorry, Fred. Seems every other post or so I am saying something to that effect. But keep in mind that you aren't paying for this.

So.. quickly (cause I don't feel like spending much time with this....)

• Yuengling has landed. (I haven't bought any yet myself, but today is payday, so I think there may be some goodness in my future.)
• I rode Nepolean on the ol' trails down in Abilene, TX early Saturday morning while I was out there for the weekend visiting Emma. The trail was somewhat overgrown, but alot of fun. I ran into an old friend at the shop in town there and he joined me for the ride and showed me the currently favored loop. Andrew happened to be in town for a couple of weeks, in-between jobs. He is currently riding a Maverick. Sweet bike.
• The 4-day weekend was good but not exactly restful seeing as 30+ hours of driving were involved. A cool part of the drive, however, was driving through the middle of a massive windfarm just North of Abilene. Abilene, and west TX in general, is one of those mostly flat places that constantly has a pretty strong wind blowing. It's great for flying kites, dust storms, and massive American flags. It's not so great for road riding because inevitably you will be riding dead into the wind, struggling to maintain 10 mph. Anyway, I have always thought "they" needed to harness that wind and generate power. So "they" are finally doing that. I never really let my thoughts be known on the matter, though, so I couldn't claim credit for that one even if I wanted to try. I think it was the old oil guys seeing a way to keep their energy production income flowing. However it came about, I was glad to see it.
• My Honda Element needs the regular maintenance (It's the big one.. timing belt... 100,000 miles or so). Anyone know any good, honest, independent Honda mechanics in town (Nashville)??
• While in Abilene, I took Emma to the Abilene Zoo. It is a pretty small zoo, but they have lions and bears and giraffes and an elephant and monkeys. We both had a great time and walked around the whole place 3-4 times in the course of a couple of hours. In that time, I absorbed enough dust and hay particles and such to make my allergies out of control. I have been combating that all week. I have had energy and such, but also a light cough and a runny nose. Last night, after hanging out with a few guys and partaking in hot chicken and 40s, I got home and my voice was gone. Not such a big deal except that I had a job interview this morning. It seemed to go fine anyway, but it was a nuisance to have to struggle so hard to be heard by the 6 people I met with during the "team interview".
• So about the hot chicken and 40s.... It is a local variant of Cajun fried chicken. And it is pretty hot. To get this chicken, we drove up to Dickerson road. We ordered our chicken (as the only white guys in the place) and stood around waiting about a half hour for our food. Pretty typical. While we waited, a couple of the guys went to the corner gas station to get the 40s (the 'ol King of Beers was my choice). Once we got our chicken we headed back to a safer part of town to eat our chicken and drink our beers. Chicken was terrific. I got the medium this time instead of mild, and I think I am ready to step up and get hot next time. I think next time will be a different joint, though. We are on a mission of trying all of the hot chicken (and fish) places in town and deciding which ones are best (from the perspective of some white boys who grew up deprived of such joys as these). Of course, the next morning is never so joyous (if you know what i mean). One of the funniest anecdotes from last night is that one of the guys who went to buy the 40s used his credit card at a gas station to make the purchase. This morning, his cc company called him to make sure it wasn't a fraudulent purchase. Keep in mind that the purchase was for less than $10. That's a testament to the part of town we had to venture to in order to get our hot chicken. But hot damn, it was worth it.
• The temperature had dropped nicely here in Nashville. But you all probably know that.